Focus session for reading: 50 minutes, white noise, when you have been meaning to start

1 Before you start

• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
• Tell yourself the goal is time spent, not output produced.
• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
• Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.

2 While the timer runs

• Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.

3 When it ends

• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
• Have a drink of water before you check anything.
• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.

4What to put on

white noise — Flat across all frequencies and very effective at covering speech. Some people find it harsh after an hour; keep the volume low.