90-minute focus block for editing — rain on a window, when you are doing this for the first time

1 Before you start

• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• 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.
• Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.

2 While the timer runs

• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
• When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.

3 When it ends

• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.

4What to put on

rain on a window — Steady rain is broadband noise with a slow natural rhythm. It masks speech and keyboard clatter without being interesting enough to listen to.