Focus session · thesis writing · 90 min
Focus session for thesis writing: 90 minutes, distant traffic, when you feel restless rather than tired
90 minutes of thesis writing, with distant traffic 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.
Let your shoulders drop about a centimetre. That is roughly where most of us keep the day. Restless is different from tired, and it needs a different approach. This works better when you don't overthink it.
1 Before you start
- Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
- Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
- Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
- Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
- Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
2 While the timer runs
- If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
- If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
- Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
- If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
3 When it ends
- Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
- Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
- Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
4What to put on
distant traffic — A low continuous wash from a road you are not on. Familiar and easy to stop hearing.
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 Focus session for reading: 90 minutes, plain quiet, when you are on your own, Deep work timer: 50 minutes of data work (vinyl crackle), if you have five quiet minutes or A 45-minute block for drawing, with birds at dawn, when the weather has kept you inside.