A 90-minute block for admin and email, with white noise, when you are on your own

1 Before you start

• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• If your mind is already racing, write down the three loudest thoughts before you begin.
• Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.

2 While the timer runs

• When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.

3 When it ends

• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.

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.