A 50-minute block for language practice, with white noise, if you have five quiet minutes

1 Before you start

• 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.
• Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
• If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.

2 While the timer runs

• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.

3 When it ends

• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
• Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.

4What to put on

white noise — Flat across all frequencies and very effective at covering speech. Some people find it harsh after an hour; keep the volume low.