90-minute brainstorming session with distant thunder and a timer, when you have woken up too early

1 Before you start

• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.
• Promise yourself you will not check anything until the timer ends, including "just quickly".
• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
• Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.

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 the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.

3 When it ends

• Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.

4What to put on

distant thunder — Low rumbles with long gaps. Suits people who find sudden noises more distracting than constant ones.