A 45-minute block for decluttering, with birds at dawn, when nothing else has worked today

1 Before you start

• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Tell yourself the goal is time spent, not output produced.
• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.

2 While the timer runs

• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.

3 When it ends

• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.
• Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.

4What to put on

birds at dawn — Bright but not sharp. Better for early sessions than for late ones.