How to use the online timer
Sixty minutes is a practical block length for structuring focused work inside an office day that's inevitably interrupted by meetings, questions from colleagues, and general office noise — long enough to make real progress on a task, short enough to fit realistically between the kinds of interruptions an office day tends to produce.
Blocking this hour out visibly, whether through a calendar entry, a status message, or simply closing an office door if one's available, tends to reduce interruptions more effectively than just quietly trying to focus while looking approachable to anyone walking past. People generally respect a clearly signalled focus block far more than an unstated intention to concentrate.
Choosing which task actually earns a protected hour matters as much as protecting the hour itself — email and routine messages tend to expand to fill whatever time's available for them, so reserving genuinely focused blocks for work that actually needs sustained attention, and handling lighter admin tasks in the gaps between them, makes better use of a limited number of these hours across a working day.
Common questions
How do I stop colleagues interrupting my focus hour?
Visibly signalling the block — a calendar entry, a status message, or a closed door — tends to work better than quietly trying to focus while looking available.
Should every task get a full protected hour?
No — reserve these blocks for work that genuinely needs sustained attention, and handle lighter admin tasks in the gaps between them.
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