90-minute focus block for studying — café murmur, after a difficult conversation

1 Before you start

• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
• Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
• Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
• Promise yourself you will not check anything until the timer ends, including "just quickly".
• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.

2 While the timer runs

• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.

3 When it ends

• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
• Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.

4What to put on

café murmur — The blur of other people talking, with none of the words close enough to follow. Some people concentrate better with a low level of company.