Focus session for writing: 90 minutes, rain on a window, when you are somewhere noisy

1 Before you start

• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
• If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
• Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.

2 While the timer runs

• It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.

3 When it ends

• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.

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.