25-minute focus session for practising an instrument with distant thunder, when you want to finish something

1 Before you start

• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
• If your mind is already racing, write down the three loudest thoughts before you begin.
• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
• Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".

2 While the timer runs

• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• 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.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.

3 When it ends

• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.

4What to put on

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