45-minute focus session for portfolio work with a washing machine, when you are cold and want to be warm

1 Before you start

• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
• Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Tell yourself the goal is time spent, not output produced.
• Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.

2 While the timer runs

• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
• It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.

3 When it ends

• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.

4What to put on

a washing machine — Domestic, mechanical, and oddly steadying. The sound of something else being dealt with.