A 45-minute block for coding, with rain on a window, if you are tired of apps

1 Before you start

• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
• Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
• 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.
• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.

2 While the timer runs

• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.

3 When it ends

• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.

4What to put on

rain on a window — Steady rain is broadband noise with a slow natural rhythm. It masks speech and keyboard clatter without being interesting enough to listen to.