25-minute design work session with white noise and a timer, when you are short on time

1 Before you start

• Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.
• Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
• Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.

2 While the timer runs

• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.

3 When it ends

• Have a drink of water before you check anything.
• Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.

4What to put on

white noise — Flat across all frequencies and very effective at covering speech. Some people find it harsh after an hour; keep the volume low.