Focus session · problem solving · 45 min
Deep work timer: 45 minutes of problem solving (a washing machine), when the day has been loud
One block of problem solving with a washing machine 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.
Feel your ribs move. That is all the machinery you need to pay attention to right now. For days that were loud from the moment they started. We'll go through it in order, without much decoration.
1 Before you start
- Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
- Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
- Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
- Give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends, even mid-sentence.
- Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.
2 While the timer runs
- If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
- If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
- If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
- If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
3 When it ends
- Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
- Have a drink of water before you check anything.
- Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
4What to put on
a washing machine — Domestic, mechanical, and oddly steadying. The sound of something else being dealt with.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.