50-minute focus block for brainstorming — brown noise, when you are doing this for the first time

1 Before you start

• Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
• Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.

2 While the timer runs

• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.

3 When it ends

• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
• Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.

4What to put on

brown noise — Lower and softer than white noise, closer to a waterfall heard from a distance. Good if white noise feels too hissy.