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# The forty-minute rule
- URL: https://thomasgravy.github.io/missive/the-forty-minute-rule/
- Published: 2026-08-09T07:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-26T22:12:16.000Z
- Description: Why I stopped planning my days in hours and started planning them in forty-minute blocks.
- Author: Clara Moreau
- Tags: Studio

An hour is a strange unit for creative work. It is too long to stay fully focused and too short to feel like a real session. Forty minutes, for me, is the sweet spot.

## How it works

1. Pick one task small enough to make visible progress on.
2. Work on it for forty minutes, phone in another room.
3. Stop, even mid-sentence. Write one line about where to pick up.

The last step is the important one. Stopping mid-sentence sounds frustrating, but it makes starting the next block almost effortless. Hemingway said something similar about ending the day's writing while you still know what comes next.