A 25-minute block for applications and forms, with a library, if you are doing this instead of scrolling

1 Before you start

• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
• Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.

2 While the timer runs

• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
• When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.

3 When it ends

• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
• Have a drink of water before you check anything.
• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.

4What to put on

a library — Almost nothing: distant footsteps, a chair, a page turning. Useful if you want the feeling of a room where work is normal.