50-minute focus session for data work with forest at dusk, when the day has been loud

1 Before you start

• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
• Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.
• Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
• Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.

2 While the timer runs

• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.

3 When it ends

• Have a drink of water before you check anything.
• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.

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.