A 50-minute block for language practice, with a library, after a difficult conversation

1 Before you start

• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
• If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
• Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
• Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.

2 While the timer runs

• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• 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

• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
• Have a drink of water before you check anything.
• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.

4What to put on

a library — Almost nothing: distant footsteps, a chair, a page turning. Useful if you want the feeling of a room where work is normal.