90-minute focus session for practising an instrument with a washing machine, when you want something simple

1 Before you start

• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
• Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
• Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
• Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.

2 While the timer runs

• The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.

3 When it ends

• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.

4What to put on

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