Focus session · brainstorming · 50 min
Deep work timer: 50 minutes of brainstorming (a stream), before you go back to something hard
One block of brainstorming with a stream underneath. Fifty minutes, the length of a therapy hour, with ten minutes off afterwards.
50:00
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Rest your hands somewhere they don't have to do anything. Five minutes here is cheaper than an hour of grinding. Keep it simple: breath in, breath out, notice.
1 Before you start
- Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
- Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
- Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
- Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
- Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
2 While the timer runs
- If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
- When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
- It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
- If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
3 When it ends
- Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.
- If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
- Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
4What to put on
a stream — Running water with small variation. Softer than rain and less repetitive than a fan.
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