A 90-minute block for applications and forms, with a stream, when you need to stop thinking about work

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.
• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.

2 While the timer runs

• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.

3 When it ends

• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
• Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.

4What to put on

a stream — Running water with small variation. Softer than rain and less repetitive than a fan.