A 45-minute block for thesis writing, with a washing machine, when your attention is scattered

1 Before you start

• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
• Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
• Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.

2 While the timer runs

• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
• 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.
• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.

4What to put on

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