A 25-minute block for planning, with vinyl crackle, when you have tried everything else

1 Before you start

• Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
• Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
• Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.

2 While the timer runs

• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.

3 When it ends

• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.

4What to put on

vinyl crackle — A thin layer of surface noise over nothing much. Just enough texture to stop the room feeling empty.