45-minute planning session with a fireplace and a timer, when you need to stop thinking about work

1 Before you start

• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
• Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.

2 While the timer runs

• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.

3 When it ends

• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
• Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.

4What to put on

a fireplace — Crackles and a low roar underneath. Warm, irregular, and undemanding.