Focus session for reading: 45 minutes, a train carriage, when the house is busy

1 Before you start

• Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
• Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
• If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.

2 While the timer runs

• It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.

3 When it ends

• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.
• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.

4What to put on

a train carriage — Rhythmic, low, and slightly rumbly. Many people find the motion-and-noise combination easier to work to than silence.