Focus session · research · 50 min
Deep work timer: 50 minutes of research (café murmur), when you are waiting for something
One block of research with café murmur 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.
Take one breath that is slightly slower than the last one. That is enough to start. Waiting is dead time you can spend on this instead. This works better when you don't overthink it.
1 Before you start
- Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
- Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
- Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
- 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
- If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
- When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
- If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
- 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
- Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
- Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
- Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
4What to put on
café murmur — The blur of other people talking, with none of the words close enough to follow. Some people concentrate better with a low level of company.
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