A 45-minute block for drawing, with plain quiet, before you go back to something hard

1 Before you start

• Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
• Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
• Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.

2 While the timer runs

• Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.

3 When it ends

• Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
• Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.

4What to put on

plain quiet — No added sound at all. If you have a quiet room, that is usually better than any recording of one.