45-minute problem solving session with forest at dusk and a timer, when you are at home and cannot settle

1 Before you start

• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
• If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
• Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
• Give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends, even mid-sentence.
• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.

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 nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.

3 When it ends

• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Have a drink of water before you check anything.
• Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.

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.