A 25-minute block for drawing, with forest at dusk, when you have been meaning to start

1 Before you start

• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.
• Promise yourself you will not check anything until the timer ends, including "just quickly".
• Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
• Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.

2 While the timer runs

• The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.

3 When it ends

• Have a drink of water before you check anything.
• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.

4What to put on

forest at dusk — Birds settling, leaves moving, nothing sudden. It works because it sounds like a place you can safely ignore.