90-minute focus block for planning — rain on a window, when you feel fine and want to stay that way

1 Before you start

• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
• Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
• 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.
• Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.

2 While the timer runs

• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.

3 When it ends

• Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
• Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.

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.