Focus session for thesis writing: 50 minutes, a fireplace, when you are not sure this will work

1 Before you start

• 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.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
• Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.

2 While the timer runs

• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
• When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.

3 When it ends

• Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.

4What to put on

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