Focus session · planning · 45 min
Deep work timer: 45 minutes of planning (a library), when your attention is scattered
One block of planning with a library 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.
If you're lying down, let the mattress hold all of you. You can stop holding yourself up. Scattered attention is the raw material, not an obstacle. Follow the instructions and let the rest look after itself.
1 Before you start
- Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
- Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
- Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
- Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
- Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
2 While the timer runs
- Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
- When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
- When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
- When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
3 When it ends
- Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
- Have a drink of water before you check anything.
- Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
4What to put on
a library — Almost nothing: distant footsteps, a chair, a page turning. Useful if you want the feeling of a room where work is normal.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.