A 25-minute block for portfolio work, with a washing machine, if you are sceptical about all of this

1 Before you start

• Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
• Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.
• Give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends, even mid-sentence.
• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.

2 While the timer runs

• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.

3 When it ends

• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.

4What to put on

a washing machine — Domestic, mechanical, and oddly steadying. The sound of something else being dealt with.