25-minute brainstorming session with a stream and a timer, when the day has been loud

1 Before you start

• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.

2 While the timer runs

• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
• Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.

3 When it ends

• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.

4What to put on

a stream — Running water with small variation. Softer than rain and less repetitive than a fan.