Focus session · thesis writing · 45 min
Deep work timer: 45 minutes of thesis writing (a stream), when you are at home and cannot settle
One block of thesis writing with a stream 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 sitting, let the chair do the work of holding you upright. Being at home and unable to settle is a very specific problem. Keep it simple: breath in, breath out, notice.
1 Before you start
- Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
- Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
- Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
- Promise yourself you will not check anything until the timer ends, including "just quickly".
- Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
2 While the timer runs
- If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
- When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
- If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
- When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
3 When it ends
- Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
- Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
- Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
4What to put on
a stream — Running water with small variation. Softer than rain and less repetitive than a fan.
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