Tuesday 90 minute deep work blockdaily

This is a daily routine for shaping your week. Use “Tuesday 90 minute deep work block” to realign the rhythm of everyday life.

Monday is filled with organizing and meetings, and from Wednesday, deadlines and fatigue pile up. Tuesday is the day of the week when you can 'push in on this week's work while still having some free time.'

90 minutes of deep work is not for ‘early risers’. Choose a 90-minute window on Tuesday morning or afternoon when your mind is clearest, and close email and Slack during that time. It's not willpower, but 5 minutes of preparation the night before and a simple rule in the morning that gets you to 90 minutes.

90 minutes only on Tuesdays

On Monday night, write down one task that you will complete in 90 minutes on Tuesday. ‘Draft Report’, ‘Code Review’, ‘Page 2 of Blueprint’—once you get to two, you have to choose again in the morning. Keep tabs, files, and reference materials open in advance. Tuesday morning 'What should I do?' The moment you think about it, your concentration is already gone.

Even if you stick to just 90 minutes every Tuesday, the proportion of ‘your work’ will change. On meeting days, you only need to set aside 45 minutes. The goal is not to be a perfect morning person, but to be someone who protects your most energetic 90 minutes.

Why do I leave files open the night before?

Before I close my laptop, I leave one document on the screen for tomorrow's 90 minutes. Gone are the 15 minutes you spend organizing your browser tabs in the morning. If you collect reference links in the bookmark folder 'Tuesday', you will not have to touch the search box.

Write ‘Focus on Tuesday · Respond after 11pm’ in Slack status and add ‘Deep Work’ block to your calendar. If you're working from home, simply closing the door or putting on headphones provides a visual cue that says, "Do not disturb now."

How to create an uninterrupted section

Turn off notifications, don’t open email or Slack, same place. Three 25-minute timers or one 90-minute timer—either way, the goal is 90 uninterrupted minutes. I just make a note of any 'urgent' things that come up in the middle of the day and then go back to the original task. It will not be processed within 90 minutes.

Some people use Focus@Will or silent playlists. The important thing is to replicate the same environment every week. 10 o'clock on a Tuesday, same desk, same headphones—repetition turns on focus quickly.

10 minutes left after 90 minutes

At the end of the 90 minutes, take a 10-minute break—water, outside the window, light stretching—and then return to regular work. If you open Slack right away, the lingering feeling of concentration you just finished will disappear. Without these 10 minutes, fatigue sets in early throughout the afternoon.

This Tuesday, try to get one thing done. The fact that I ‘kept 90 minutes’, rather than whether or not I completed it, makes next Tuesday easier. After Monday's reactive mode, Tuesday's 90 minutes become the pivot of the week.