Focus session · data work · 90 min
Focus session for data work: 90 minutes, a library, when you need something unremarkable
90 minutes of data work, with a library and a note on what to do when you drift.
90:00
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Loosen your grip on whatever you're holding, or imagine loosening it. Nothing dramatic happens here, and that is deliberate. Keep it simple: breath in, breath out, notice.
1 Before you start
- Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
- Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
- Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
- Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
- Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
2 While the timer runs
- If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
- If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
- If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
- If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
3 When it ends
- Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
- Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
- Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
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.