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Focus session · brainstorming · 45 min

Focus session for brainstorming: 45 minutes, a library, when you feel fine and want to stay that way

45 minutes of brainstorming, with a library and a note on what to do when you drift.

45:00

Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.

If you're sitting, let the chair do the work of holding you upright. Feeling fine is a good reason to do this, not a reason to skip it. This is a short one, so let's use the time properly.

1 Before you start

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.

2 While the timer runs

  • 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.
  • When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
  • When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.

3 When it ends

  • Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
  • Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
  • If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.

4What to put on

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.

If this block does not fit, try Focus session for studying: 50 minutes, a fan or air conditioner, when you are short on time, Deep work timer: 50 minutes of design work (white noise), if you have done this a hundred times or 90-minute focus session for reading with café murmur, when nothing else has worked today.