25-minute studying session with a washing machine and a timer, if you are new to this

1 Before you start

• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
• Promise yourself you will not check anything until the timer ends, including "just quickly".
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
• Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.

2 While the timer runs

• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.

3 When it ends

• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
• Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.

4What to put on

a washing machine — Domestic, mechanical, and oddly steadying. The sound of something else being dealt with.