Focus session for design work: 45 minutes, brown noise, on a day that started badly

1 Before you start

• Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.
• Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
• Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
• Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.

2 While the timer runs

• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
• The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.

3 When it ends

• Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.

4What to put on

brown noise — Lower and softer than white noise, closer to a waterfall heard from a distance. Good if white noise feels too hissy.