Focus session · research · 45 min
A 45-minute block for research, with a washing machine, before you go back to something hard
A single 45-minute block for research — with a note file open beside you.
45:00
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Then find the nearest sound. It's probably your own breathing. Five minutes here is cheaper than an hour of grinding. We'll go through it in order, without much decoration.
1 Before you start
- Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
- Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
- Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
- If your mind is already racing, write down the three loudest thoughts before you begin.
- Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
2 While the timer runs
- If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
- When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
- When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
- If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
3 When it ends
- Have a drink of water before you check anything.
- If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
- Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
4What to put on
a washing machine — Domestic, mechanical, and oddly steadying. The sound of something else being dealt with.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.