90-minute studying session with birds at dawn and a timer, when you want to be left alone

1 Before you start

• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
• Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.

2 While the timer runs

• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.

3 When it ends

• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.

4What to put on

birds at dawn — Bright but not sharp. Better for early sessions than for late ones.