How to use the online timer
Twenty-five minutes of genuine concentration is more than most working days actually contain, once meetings, messages and the small interruptions of an open office are subtracted. The value of setting it deliberately is not the length but the decision: one task, no switching, and a defined end. Everything else waits, including the notification that arrives ninety seconds after you start.
Close the other tabs, put the phone face down and out of reach, and name the task out loud or on paper before pressing start. Twenty-five minutes spent deciding what to do is not the same as twenty-five minutes doing it. Keep this page open while it runs, since the count belongs to the tab and ends the moment the tab does.
Attention takes several minutes to settle after every interruption, which is why a block broken twice is worth far less than half a block. If something urgent genuinely arrives, stop the count rather than pretending the block survived. And write down the stray thoughts that surface instead of chasing them; most of them turn out to be unimportant when read back afterwards.
Common questions
What if something urgent interrupts the block?
Stop the count rather than pretending the block survived. Attention takes several minutes to settle after an interruption, so an honest restart is worth more than a block that only looks complete.
What do I do with stray thoughts?
Write them down and carry on. Most turn out to be unimportant when read back afterwards, and noting them costs a few seconds where chasing them costs the rest of the block.
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