A 90-minute block for drawing, with a train carriage, when your attention is scattered

1 Before you start

• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
• Promise yourself you will not check anything until the timer ends, including "just quickly".
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.

2 While the timer runs

• 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.
• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.

3 When it ends

• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.

4What to put on

a train carriage — Rhythmic, low, and slightly rumbly. Many people find the motion-and-noise combination easier to work to than silence.