Focus session · thesis writing · 90 min
Focus session for thesis writing: 90 minutes, café murmur, when you are on your own
90 minutes of thesis writing, with café murmur 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.
Drop your attention from your head into your chest for a second. Being on your own is not required, but it does make this simpler. This is a short one, so let's use the time properly.
1 Before you start
- Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
- Promise yourself you will not check anything until the timer ends, including "just quickly".
- Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
- Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
- 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.
- If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
- If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
- 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.
- Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
- Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
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.
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