45-minute portfolio work session with forest at dusk and a timer, if you are tired of apps

1 Before you start

• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
• Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
• Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.

2 While the timer runs

• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.

3 When it ends

• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
• Have a drink of water before you check anything.

4What to put on

forest at dusk — Birds settling, leaves moving, nothing sudden. It works because it sounds like a place you can safely ignore.