Focus session · exam revision · 25 min
A 25-minute block for exam revision, with a fan or air conditioner, if you are doing this in the middle of the day
A single 25-minute block for exam revision — recall rather than re-reading.
25:00
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Feel your ribs move. That is all the machinery you need to pay attention to right now. Midday is an underrated time for this. Follow the instructions and let the rest look after itself.
1 Before you start
- Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
- Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
- Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
- Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
- Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
2 While the timer runs
- If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
- If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
- If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
- Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
3 When it ends
- Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
- Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
- Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
4What to put on
a fan or air conditioner — A constant mechanical hum with no variation. The lack of change is the point — nothing in it asks for your attention.
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