25-minute focus block for language practice — rain on a window, when you are waiting for something

1 Before you start

• Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.
• Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
• 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.
• Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.

2 While the timer runs

• Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
• 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.
• 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.
• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.

4What to put on

rain on a window — Steady rain is broadband noise with a slow natural rhythm. It masks speech and keyboard clatter without being interesting enough to listen to.