50-minute focus block for applications and forms — a washing machine, if you are doing this in the middle of the day

1 Before you start

• Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
• Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
• Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
• Give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends, even mid-sentence.
• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".

2 While the timer runs

• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
• The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
• Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.

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.
• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.

4What to put on

a washing machine — Domestic, mechanical, and oddly steadying. The sound of something else being dealt with.