SoftlyStillStart now

Focus session · research · 90 min

Deep work timer: 90 minutes of research (a train carriage), when you feel fine and want to stay that way

One block of research with a train carriage 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.

Let the first out-breath be longer than the in-breath. Nothing dramatic, just longer. Feeling fine is a good reason to do this, not a reason to skip it. 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.
  • Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
  • Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
  • Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
  • Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.

2 While the timer runs

  • If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
  • When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
  • Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
  • If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.

3 When it ends

  • Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
  • If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
  • Have a drink of water before you check anything.

4What to put on

a train carriage — Rhythmic, low, and slightly rumbly. Many people find the motion-and-noise combination easier to work to than silence.

This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.

If this block does not fit, try Deep work timer: 25 minutes of practising an instrument (vinyl crackle), when you have been on screens all day, A 50-minute block for thesis writing, with rain on a window, when you are not in the mood or 90-minute research session with birds at dawn and a timer, after a long day.