You sit down and realise you are missing a password, an attachment, and a decision about what to do first. By the time that’s sorted, half the session is gone. A few minutes of preparation keeps the start from falling apart.

Choose a result, not a state of mind

Write down what you want to have at the end of this session: a drafted paragraph, a checked spreadsheet, five answered questions. “Stay focused” isn’t a goal, because after an interruption it can’t tell you where you were. Keep the result small enough to finish in one session.

Close the obvious side doors

  • Open the files you need and close unrelated tabs.
  • Find any passwords, attachments or data you will need.
  • If you don’t need your phone, put it out of reach.

If work or family may need to reach you, keep that channel open and silence the rest. The aim is fewer interruptions, not being unreachable.

This isn’t a big clean-up. Moving one distraction and finding the right document is often enough. Stop preparing as soon as you can take the first step.

Give interruptions somewhere to wait

Keep a sheet of paper or a blank note nearby. When you suddenly remember an appointment or a message to send, write it down and go back to the task. Pick a time to check messages, such as “after this session”. That is easier to keep than “not today at all”.

If preparation keeps eating a large part of every session, the problem may not be your environment: shrink the task, or get the missing information first. What you need is time to work, not a perfect ritual.

Try one round with the timer

Five minutes in three parts:

  • 2 minutes choose the result: write what this session should produce.
  • 2 minutes set up: open what you need, silence what you don’t.
  • 1 minute check: confirm you can take the first step, then start your focus timer.

Next

Copy the focus-session preparation checklist and run through it before you start. When you are ready, begin a round on the Pomodoro timer. If you don’t know what the first step is, read how to start a task you keep putting off.

Sources

Partly adapted from HowToLiveBetter by eternity4719 and contributors (14 October 2026 snapshot), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Todo & Timer rewrote the steps and examples.

Book entries used: chapter 3, “Don’t waste energy”: 3.1 · 3.5 · 3.6 · 3.7 · 3.12.