Focus session for editing: 90 minutes, white noise, when you have woken up too early

1 Before you start

• Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
• Give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends, even mid-sentence.
• Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.
• Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.

2 While the timer runs

• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.

3 When it ends

• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
• 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

white noise — Flat across all frequencies and very effective at covering speech. Some people find it harsh after an hour; keep the volume low.