25-minute focus block for brainstorming — white noise, when you feel fine and want to stay that way

1 Before you start

• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
• Promise yourself you will not check anything until the timer ends, including "just quickly".
• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.

2 While the timer runs

• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
• Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.

3 When it ends

• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
• 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.