25-minute focus session for exam revision with distant thunder, when you only have a few minutes

1 Before you start

• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.

2 While the timer runs

• If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.

3 When it ends

• Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
• 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

distant thunder — Low rumbles with long gaps. Suits people who find sudden noises more distracting than constant ones.