Focus session · studying · 90 min

Deep work timer: 90 minutes of studying (a library), before something difficult

One block of studying with a library 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.

Check your hands. Are they doing anything? Let them stop. It works best in the hour before something difficult. Straight through, at a normal pace.

1 Before you start

Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
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.
Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".

If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and 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.
If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.

Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.

a library — Almost nothing: distant footsteps, a chair, a page turning. Useful if you want the feeling of a room where work is normal.

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