Focus session · editing · 25 min
Deep work timer: 25 minutes of editing (a train carriage), when you want to be left alone
One block of editing with a train carriage 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.
Find one place in your body that already feels fine. Use that as the starting point. Nothing here asks anything of you socially. Straight through, at a normal pace.
1 Before you start
- Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
- Give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends, even mid-sentence.
- Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
- Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
- Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
2 While the timer runs
- If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
- If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
- When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
- The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
3 When it ends
- Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
- Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
- Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
4What to put on
a train carriage — Rhythmic, low, and slightly rumbly. Many people find the motion-and-noise combination easier to work to than silence.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.