25-minute focus block for data work — brown noise, when you are cold and want to be warm

1 Before you start

• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• 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.
• Promise yourself you will not check anything until the timer ends, including "just quickly".
• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".

2 While the timer runs

• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.

3 When it ends

• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
• Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
• Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.

4What to put on

brown noise — Lower and softer than white noise, closer to a waterfall heard from a distance. Good if white noise feels too hissy.