A 50-minute block for studying, with rain on a window, if you are new to this

1 Before you start

• Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
• Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.

2 While the timer runs

• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.

3 When it ends

• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.
• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.

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.