Focus session · brainstorming · 50 min
Focus session for brainstorming: 50 minutes, brown noise, when you want to be left alone
50 minutes of brainstorming, with brown noise 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 forehead smooth out. Most of us hold a small frown there all day. Nothing here asks anything of you socially. We'll go through it in order, without much decoration.
1 Before you start
- Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.
- Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
- Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
- Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
- Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
2 While the timer runs
- If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
- The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
- If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
- Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
3 When it ends
- Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
- 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.
4What to put on
brown noise — Lower and softer than white noise, closer to a waterfall heard from a distance. Good if white noise feels too hissy.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.