45-minute focus session for decluttering with plain quiet, when you have more time than usual

1 Before you start

• Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
• Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".

2 While the timer runs

• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.

3 When it ends

• Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.

4What to put on

plain quiet — No added sound at all. If you have a quiet room, that is usually better than any recording of one.