A 90-minute block for practising an instrument, with white noise, after eating too much

1 Before you start

• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
• 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.
• If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
• Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.

2 While the timer runs

• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.

3 When it ends

• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.
• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.

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.