Focus session · coding · 90 min

A 90-minute block for coding, with birds at dawn, when nothing else has worked today

A single 90-minute block for coding — one function at a time, not the whole system.

90:00

Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.

If you're tired, you can let that be true. Tired is allowed here. Nothing else has worked today. That is not a reason to skip this. We'll be efficient and then you can get on with your day.

1 Before you start

Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.

2 While the timer runs

If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.

3 When it ends

Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.

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.

If this block does not fit, try 50-minute focus session for thesis writing with a library, after eating too much, 50-minute focus session for studying with a library, when you feel restless rather than tired or Deep work timer: 90 minutes of practising an instrument (distant traffic), when you cannot concentrate on anything else.