Focus session · problem solving · 50 min

Focus session for problem solving: 50 minutes, a stream, if you are sceptical about all of this

50 minutes of problem solving, with a stream 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 shoulders drop about a centimetre. That is roughly where most of us keep the day. Scepticism is welcome. You do not have to believe anything for this to work. This works better when you don't overthink it.

1 Before you start

Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.

2 While the timer runs

When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.

3 When it ends

Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
Have a drink of water before you check anything.

4What to put on

a stream — Running water with small variation. Softer than rain and less repetitive than a fan.

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 reading (a fan or air conditioner), when you are short on time, 50-minute focus session for practising an instrument with café murmur, when you need to stop thinking about work or 90-minute focus session for writing with café murmur, when the weather has kept you inside.