A 90-minute block for applications and forms, with a fan or air conditioner, when you have woken up too early

1 Before you start

• Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
• Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
• Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.

2 While the timer runs

• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
• 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

• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.

4What to put on

a fan or air conditioner — A constant mechanical hum with no variation. The lack of change is the point — nothing in it asks for your attention.