Focus session · decluttering · 45 min
Deep work timer: 45 minutes of decluttering (distant thunder), when you only have a few minutes
One block of decluttering with distant thunder underneath. A single class period, the length most people can hold before the quality drops.
45:00
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Let your eyes soften. Not closed, just less busy. A few minutes is the whole requirement. We'll go through it in order, without much decoration.
1 Before you start
- 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.
- Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
- Tell yourself the goal is time spent, not output produced.
- Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
2 While the timer runs
- If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
- 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.
- If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
3 When it ends
- Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
- 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 thunder — Low rumbles with long gaps. Suits people who find sudden noises more distracting than constant ones.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.