25-minute problem solving session with a library and a timer, if you are tired of apps

1 Before you start

• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
• Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.

2 While the timer runs

• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.

3 When it ends

• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
• Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.

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.