Focus session · coding · 25 min
Deep work timer: 25 minutes of coding (distant traffic), when the day has been loud
One block of coding with distant traffic underneath. One pomodoro, long enough to get somewhere and short enough to start.
25:00
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Part of you is still in the last conversation you had. That's fine. It can sit here too. For days that were loud from the moment they started. Straight through, at a normal pace.
1 Before you start
- Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
- Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
- Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
- If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
- Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
2 While the timer runs
- When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
- If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
- When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
- If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
3 When it ends
- Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
- Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
- Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
4What to put on
distant traffic — A low continuous wash from a road you are not on. Familiar and easy to stop hearing.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.