50-minute focus session for exam revision with a stream, when you have already had a long week

1 Before you start

• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
• Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
• Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
• Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.

2 While the timer runs

• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.

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.
• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.

4What to put on

a stream — Running water with small variation. Softer than rain and less repetitive than a fan.