90-minute focus block for writing — plain quiet, after a long day

1 Before you start

• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.
• Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
• Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.

2 While the timer runs

• If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.

3 When it ends

• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
• Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.

4What to put on

plain quiet — No added sound at all. If you have a quiet room, that is usually better than any recording of one.