25-minute focus block for research — a library, when you need to stop thinking about work

1 Before you start

• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• If your mind is already racing, write down the three loudest thoughts before you begin.
• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
• Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.

2 While the timer runs

• The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
• Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.

3 When it ends

• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.

4What to put on

a library — Almost nothing: distant footsteps, a chair, a page turning. Useful if you want the feeling of a room where work is normal.