25-minute focus session for writing with a library, when you are too tired to try hard

1 Before you start

• Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
• Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
• Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.

2 While the timer runs

• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.

3 When it ends

• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.
• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.

4What to put on

a library — Almost nothing: distant footsteps, a chair, a page turning. Useful if you want the feeling of a room where work is normal.