45-minute focus block for brainstorming — forest at dusk, when you need to stop thinking about work

1 Before you start

• Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.
• Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
• Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
• Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.

2 While the timer runs

• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.

3 When it ends

• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.

4What to put on

forest at dusk — Birds settling, leaves moving, nothing sudden. It works because it sounds like a place you can safely ignore.