50-minute applications and forms session with a fan or air conditioner and a timer, when you need to stop thinking about work

1 Before you start

• Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
• Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.

2 While the timer runs

• If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.

3 When it ends

• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.

4What to put on

a fan or air conditioner — A constant mechanical hum with no variation. The lack of change is the point — nothing in it asks for your attention.