Focus session for admin and email: 45 minutes, a washing machine, when you are at home and cannot settle

1 Before you start

• Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
• Give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends, even mid-sentence.
• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.

2 While the timer runs

• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.

3 When it ends

• Have a drink of water before you check anything.
• Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
• Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.

4What to put on

a washing machine — Domestic, mechanical, and oddly steadying. The sound of something else being dealt with.