Focus session · admin and email · 50 min
Focus session for admin and email: 50 minutes, rain on a window, when you have been putting it off
50 minutes of admin and email, with rain on a window and a note on what to do when you drift.
50:00
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Let your tongue rest down, away from the roof of your mouth. You have been putting this off. Starting is the only step that matters. This is a short one, so let's use the time properly.
1 Before you start
- Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
- Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
- Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
- Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
- Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
2 While the timer runs
- When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
- If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
- If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
- Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
3 When it ends
- Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
- If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
- Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
4What to put on
rain on a window — Steady rain is broadband noise with a slow natural rhythm. It masks speech and keyboard clatter without being interesting enough to listen to.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.