Focus session · editing · 25 min
Deep work timer: 25 minutes of editing (café murmur), when you need something unremarkable
One block of editing with café murmur 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.
Start with the noise that is already in the room. We are not going to try to remove it yet. Nothing dramatic happens here, and that is deliberate. Follow the instructions and let the rest look after itself.
1 Before you start
- Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
- Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
- Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
- Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
- Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
2 While the timer runs
- If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
- If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
- When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
- Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
3 When it ends
- Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
- If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
- Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
4What to put on
café murmur — The blur of other people talking, with none of the words close enough to follow. Some people concentrate better with a low level of company.
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