Focus session · decluttering · 90 min
Deep work timer: 90 minutes of decluttering (a stream), when you have already had a long week
One block of decluttering with a stream 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.
Rest your hands somewhere they don't have to do anything. Long weeks are cumulative. This is a small subtraction. Follow the instructions and let the rest look after itself.
1 Before you start
- Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
- Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
- Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
- Tell yourself the goal is time spent, not output produced.
- Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
2 While the timer runs
- When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
- When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
- If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
- If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
3 When it ends
- Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
- Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
- 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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