Focus session · data work · 45 min
Deep work timer: 45 minutes of data work (café murmur), when you only have a few minutes
One block of data work with café murmur underneath. A single class period, the length most people can hold before the quality drops.
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Let the floor take your weight through your feet, and stop holding yourself up for a second. A few minutes is the whole requirement. No preamble. We start with the body.
1 Before you start
- Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
- 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".
- Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
- Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
2 While the timer runs
- When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
- If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
- If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
- If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
3 When it ends
- Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
- Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
- Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
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.
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 Deep work timer: 45 minutes of writing (a library), when you want to be left alone, Deep work timer: 90 minutes of problem solving (distant thunder), when you want to finish something or Deep work timer: 50 minutes of research (café murmur), when you are waiting for something.