Focus session for planning: 50 minutes, a washing machine, before you go back to something hard

1 Before you start

• Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
• If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
• Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.

2 While the timer runs

• When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
• The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.

3 When it ends

• Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
• Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.

4What to put on

a washing machine — Domestic, mechanical, and oddly steadying. The sound of something else being dealt with.