A 90-minute block for writing, with café murmur, if you have five quiet minutes

1 Before you start

• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Promise yourself you will not check anything until the timer ends, including "just quickly".
• Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.
• Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.

2 While the timer runs

• The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.

3 When it ends

• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.

4What to put on

café murmur — The blur of other people talking, with none of the words close enough to follow. Some people concentrate better with a low level of company.