45-minute focus session for coding with a library, when you want to finish something

1 Before you start

• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
• If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
• Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.

2 While the timer runs

• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
• It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.

3 When it ends

• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
• Have a drink of water before you check anything.
• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.

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.