90-minute focus session for exam revision with a washing machine, when you are cold and want to be warm

1 Before you start

• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
• Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
• Give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends, even mid-sentence.
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.

2 While the timer runs

• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.

3 When it ends

• 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.
• 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.