Focus session · portfolio work · 25 min

Focus session for portfolio work: 25 minutes, forest at dusk, when you are cold and want to be warm

25 minutes of portfolio work, with forest at dusk and a note on what to do when you drift.

25:00

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

Feel your ribs move. That is all the machinery you need to pay attention to right now. Get a blanket first. Being cold defeats the point. This is a short one, so let's use the time properly.

1 Before you start

  • Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
  • Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
  • Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
  • Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
  • Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.

2 While the timer runs

  • If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
  • If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
  • If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
  • When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.

3 When it ends

  • Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
  • Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
  • Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.

4What to put on

forest at dusk — Birds settling, leaves moving, nothing sudden. It works because it sounds like a place you can safely ignore.

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