50-minute focus session for planning with plain quiet, after a difficult conversation

1 Before you start

• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
• If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.

2 While the timer runs

• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• 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 the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.

3 When it ends

• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.

4What to put on

plain quiet — No added sound at all. If you have a quiet room, that is usually better than any recording of one.