A 50-minute block for design work, with rain on a window, when you are too tired to try hard

1 Before you start

• Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
• Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
• Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
• Tell yourself the goal is time spent, not output produced.
• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.

2 While the timer runs

• If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• 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.

3 When it ends

• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.

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.