50-minute focus session for problem solving with a library, if you are fitting this around other people

1 Before you start

• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
• Give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends, even mid-sentence.
• Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.

2 While the timer runs

• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
• Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.

3 When it ends

• Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.

4What to put on

a library — Almost nothing: distant footsteps, a chair, a page turning. Useful if you want the feeling of a room where work is normal.