90-minute planning session with a washing machine and a timer, if you are doing this instead of scrolling

1 Before you start

• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
• Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".

2 While the timer runs

• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
• If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.

3 When it ends

• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.

4What to put on

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