A 25-minute block for applications and forms, with white noise, when the day has been loud

1 Before you start

• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
• 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 are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.

3 When it ends

• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
• 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

white noise — Flat across all frequencies and very effective at covering speech. Some people find it harsh after an hour; keep the volume low.