A 45-minute block for planning, with plain quiet, when you need something unremarkable

1 Before you start

• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
• Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
• Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.

2 While the timer runs

• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• 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

• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.
• 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.