25-minute focus block for editing — birds at dawn, when you want to finish something

1 Before you start

• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
• Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
• Tell yourself the goal is time spent, not output produced.
• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.

2 While the timer runs

• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.

3 When it ends

• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.

4What to put on

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