Focus session · coding · 50 min
Focus session for coding: 50 minutes, café murmur, when you cannot concentrate on anything else
50 minutes of coding, with café murmur 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.
Keep your eyes open if you like, resting on one point of the floor a metre or two ahead. When concentration is gone, work with what is left. 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.
- Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
- Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
- Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
- Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
2 While the timer runs
- If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
- If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
- It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
- When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
3 When it ends
- Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
- If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
- Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
4What to put on
café murmur — The blur of other people talking, with none of the words close enough to follow. Some people concentrate better with a low level of company.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.