90-minute focus block for editing — vinyl crackle, when you want something simple

1 Before you start

• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
• Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
• Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.

2 While the timer runs

• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.

3 When it ends

• Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.

4What to put on

vinyl crackle — A thin layer of surface noise over nothing much. Just enough texture to stop the room feeling empty.