Focus session · coding · 50 min
A 50-minute block for coding, with birds at dawn, when you want to finish something
A single 50-minute block for coding — one function at a time, not the whole system.
50:00
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Keep your eyes open if you like, resting on one point of the floor a metre or two ahead. Wanting to finish something is a better motivation than wanting to relax. No preamble. We start with the body.
1 Before you start
- Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
- Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
- Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
- Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
- Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.
2 While the timer runs
- The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
- If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
- When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
- If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
3 When it ends
- Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
- Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
- Have a drink of water before you check anything.
4What to put on
birds at dawn — Bright but not sharp. Better for early sessions than for late ones.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.