45-minute focus block for reading — a library, on a day that started badly

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".
• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• 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 you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.

3 When it ends

• Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.

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.