45-minute language practice session with a library and a timer, if you are new to this

1 Before you start

• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
• Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
• Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
• Tell yourself the goal is time spent, not output produced.
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.

2 While the timer runs

• Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
• It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• 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

• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.

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.