25-minute focus block for admin and email — café murmur, when you feel restless rather than tired

1 Before you start

• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
• Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
• Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.

2 While the timer runs

• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
• It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
• When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.

3 When it ends

• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.

4What to put on

café murmur — The blur of other people talking, with none of the words close enough to follow. Some people concentrate better with a low level of company.