A 50-minute block for portfolio work, with forest at dusk, when you are on your own

1 Before you start

• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
• Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.

2 While the timer runs

• It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.

3 When it ends

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

4What to put on

forest at dusk — Birds settling, leaves moving, nothing sudden. It works because it sounds like a place you can safely ignore.