25-minute focus session for coding with a train carriage, when you have been on screens all day

1 Before you start

• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
• Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.

2 While the timer runs

• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.

3 When it ends

• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
• 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 train carriage — Rhythmic, low, and slightly rumbly. Many people find the motion-and-noise combination easier to work to than silence.