Focus session for drawing: 25 minutes, birds at dawn, when your attention is scattered

1 Before you start

• Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
• Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
• Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.

2 While the timer runs

• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.

3 When it ends

• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.

4What to put on

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