90-minute focus session for data work with brown noise, when you have been on screens all day

1 Before you start

• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
• Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
• 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 a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
• It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.

3 When it ends

• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.

4What to put on

brown noise — Lower and softer than white noise, closer to a waterfall heard from a distance. Good if white noise feels too hissy.