90-minute focus session for brainstorming with a washing machine, when you have woken up too early

1 Before you start

• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
• Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
• 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.
• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.

2 While the timer runs

• Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.

3 When it ends

• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
• Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.

4What to put on

a washing machine — Domestic, mechanical, and oddly steadying. The sound of something else being dealt with.