Focus session for problem solving: 45 minutes, a fireplace, if you have done this a hundred times

1 Before you start

• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• Give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends, even mid-sentence.
• Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
• Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.

2 While the timer runs

• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.

3 When it ends

• Have a drink of water before you check anything.
• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.

4What to put on

a fireplace — Crackles and a low roar underneath. Warm, irregular, and undemanding.