Focus session · exam revision · 45 min
Deep work timer: 45 minutes of exam revision (birds at dawn), when you need something unremarkable
One block of exam revision with birds at dawn 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.
Put a hand on your chest for a moment if that feels steadying. Or don't. Both are allowed. Nothing dramatic happens here, and that is deliberate. Keep it simple: breath in, breath out, notice.
1 Before you start
- 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.
- Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
- Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
- Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
2 While the timer runs
- When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
- 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.
- If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
3 When it ends
- Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
- Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
- Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
4What to put on
birds at dawn — Bright but not sharp. Better for early sessions than for late ones.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.