Focus session for data work: 45 minutes, birds at dawn, when you have been on screens all day

1 Before you start

• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.
• If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.

2 While the timer runs

• It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.

3 When it ends

• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.

4What to put on

birds at dawn — Bright but not sharp. Better for early sessions than for late ones.