Focus session · coding · 50 min
Deep work timer: 50 minutes of coding (rain on a window), if you are doing this in the middle of the day
One block of coding with rain on a window 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.
Start with the noise that is already in the room. We are not going to try to remove it yet. Midday is an underrated time for this. This works better when you don't overthink it.
1 Before you start
- Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
- Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
- Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
- Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
- Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
2 While the timer runs
- Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
- When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
- 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
- Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
- Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
- Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.
4What to put on
rain on a window — Steady rain is broadband noise with a slow natural rhythm. It masks speech and keyboard clatter without being interesting enough to listen to.
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