25-minute focus block for applications and forms — birds at dawn, if you have five quiet minutes

1 Before you start

• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
• Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.
• Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.

2 While the timer runs

• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
• When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
• The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.

3 When it ends

• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.

4What to put on

birds at dawn — Bright but not sharp. Better for early sessions than for late ones.