50-minute focus block for decluttering — forest at dusk, if you are fitting this around other people

1 Before you start

• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• If your mind is already racing, write down the three loudest thoughts before you begin.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
• Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
• Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.

2 While the timer runs

• It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.

3 When it ends

• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
• Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.

4What to put on

forest at dusk — Birds settling, leaves moving, nothing sudden. It works because it sounds like a place you can safely ignore.