25-minute focus session for problem solving with distant traffic, when you are cold and want to be warm

1 Before you start

• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
• Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.

2 While the timer runs

• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.

3 When it ends

• Have a drink of water before you check anything.
• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.

4What to put on

distant traffic — A low continuous wash from a road you are not on. Familiar and easy to stop hearing.