A 25-minute block for portfolio work, with a train carriage, after eating too much

1 Before you start

• Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
• Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
• Give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends, even mid-sentence.
• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.

2 While the timer runs

• 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.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.

3 When it ends

• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.

4What to put on

a train carriage — Rhythmic, low, and slightly rumbly. Many people find the motion-and-noise combination easier to work to than silence.