Focus session · applications and forms · 90 min
Deep work timer: 90 minutes of applications and forms (a fireplace), when you are too tired to try hard
One block of applications and forms with a fireplace underneath. One full ultradian cycle, for work that needs a long runway.
90:00
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Turn your phone face down if it's within reach. If it's in another room, even better. Too tired to try hard is exactly the right amount of tired for this. No preamble. We start with the body.
1 Before you start
- Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
- Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
- Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
- Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
- Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.
2 While the timer runs
- The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
- If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
- If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
- Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
3 When it ends
- Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
- Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
- Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
4What to put on
a fireplace — Crackles and a low roar underneath. Warm, irregular, and undemanding.
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