Focus session for exam revision: 90 minutes, birds at dawn, when you want to finish something

1 Before you start

• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
• Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
• Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.

2 While the timer runs

• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.

3 When it ends

• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
• Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.

4What to put on

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