Focus session · portfolio work · 50 min
Focus session for portfolio work: 50 minutes, birds at dawn, when nothing else has worked today
50 minutes of portfolio work, with birds at dawn and a note on what to do when you drift.
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Sit however you were already sitting. You don't have to straighten up first. Nothing else has worked today. That is not a reason to skip this. No preamble. We start with the body.
1 Before you start
- Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
- Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
- Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
- Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
- Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
2 While the timer runs
- Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
- When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
- If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
- If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
3 When it ends
- Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
- Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
- If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
4What to put on
birds at dawn — Bright but not sharp. Better for early sessions than for late ones.
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 Deep work timer: 90 minutes of applications and forms (distant thunder), when you need to stop thinking about work, 50-minute focus session for coding with distant thunder, when you have woken up too early or A 25-minute block for brainstorming, with birds at dawn, when you are doing this for the first time.