50-minute focus session for research with a train carriage, when you need something unremarkable

1 Before you start

• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends, even mid-sentence.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
• Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
• 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 your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.

3 When it ends

• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.
• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.

4What to put on

a train carriage — Rhythmic, low, and slightly rumbly. Many people find the motion-and-noise combination easier to work to than silence.