25-minute focus block for reading — café murmur, when the house is busy

1 Before you start

• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
• Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• Promise yourself you will not check anything until the timer ends, including "just quickly".
• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.

2 While the timer runs

• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
• If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.

3 When it ends

• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.

4What to put on

café murmur — The blur of other people talking, with none of the words close enough to follow. Some people concentrate better with a low level of company.