Focus session · research · 90 min
90-minute research session with plain quiet and a timer, when you are doing this for the first time
Sit down, press start, and follow one thread for 90 minutes. One full ultradian cycle, for work that needs a long runway.
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Put a hand on your chest for a moment if that feels steadying. Or don't. Both are allowed. If this is your first go, stay with the plainest version of the instructions. We'll go through it in order, without much decoration.
1 Before you start
- Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
- Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
- Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
- Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
- Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
2 While the timer runs
- If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
- When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
- When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
- If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
3 When it ends
- Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
- Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
- Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
4What to put on
plain quiet — No added sound at all. If you have a quiet room, that is usually better than any recording of one.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.
If this block does not fit, try Focus session for thesis writing: 45 minutes, plain quiet, on a day that started badly, Focus session for reading: 90 minutes, distant thunder, when the weather has kept you inside or 45-minute planning session with birds at dawn and a timer, when you have just finished work.