45-minute focus block for exam revision — rain on a window, when you are cold and want to be warm

1 Before you start

• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
• Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
• Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.
• Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.

2 While the timer runs

• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.

3 When it ends

• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.

4What to put on

rain on a window — Steady rain is broadband noise with a slow natural rhythm. It masks speech and keyboard clatter without being interesting enough to listen to.