45-minute focus session for studying with café murmur, when you are not sure this will work

1 Before you start

• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
• Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
• Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.

2 While the timer runs

• Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
• It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.

3 When it ends

• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.

4What to put on

café murmur — The blur of other people talking, with none of the words close enough to follow. Some people concentrate better with a low level of company.