Focus session for language practice: 45 minutes, vinyl crackle, when you have tried everything else

1 Before you start

• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
• Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
• Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.

2 While the timer runs

• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
• 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 get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.

3 When it ends

• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.

4What to put on

vinyl crackle — A thin layer of surface noise over nothing much. Just enough texture to stop the room feeling empty.