45-minute studying session with vinyl crackle and a timer, when you are waiting for something

1 Before you start

• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
• Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
• If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.

2 While the timer runs

• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.

3 When it ends

• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
• Have a drink of water before you check anything.

4What to put on

vinyl crackle — A thin layer of surface noise over nothing much. Just enough texture to stop the room feeling empty.