50-minute focus block for coding — a washing machine, when you are cold and want to be warm

1 Before you start

• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• 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".
• Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.

2 While the timer runs

• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.

3 When it ends

• Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.

4What to put on

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