25-minute focus block for planning — a fan or air conditioner, after a difficult conversation

1 Before you start

• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
• Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• Give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends, even mid-sentence.
• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.

2 While the timer runs

• When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.

3 When it ends

• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
• 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.

4What to put on

a fan or air conditioner — A constant mechanical hum with no variation. The lack of change is the point — nothing in it asks for your attention.