Focus session for research: 45 minutes, rain on a window, when you need something unremarkable

1 Before you start

• Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
• Tell yourself the goal is time spent, not output produced.
• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.

2 While the timer runs

• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
• 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.

3 When it ends

• Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.

4What to put on

rain on a window — Steady rain is broadband noise with a slow natural rhythm. It masks speech and keyboard clatter without being interesting enough to listen to.