Focus session for decluttering: 90 minutes, rain on a window, when you are not in the mood

1 Before you start

• Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
• Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
• If your mind is already racing, write down the three loudest thoughts before you begin.
• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.

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 catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.

3 When it ends

• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.

4What to put on

rain on a window — Steady rain is broadband noise with a slow natural rhythm. It masks speech and keyboard clatter without being interesting enough to listen to.