25-minute focus block for studying — rain on a window, when you are somewhere noisy

1 Before you start

• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
• If your mind is already racing, write down the three loudest thoughts before you begin.
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.

2 While the timer runs

• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.

3 When it ends

• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.

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.