A 25-minute block for editing, with white noise, when you only have a few minutes

1 Before you start

• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
• Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.

2 While the timer runs

• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.

3 When it ends

• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Have a drink of water before you check anything.
• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.

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.