Mental Strategies? None. I just start working. I force myself to get started. Once you start, you're halfway done. Now once you've started. Don't stop. This ma

Mental Strategies? None. I just start working. I force myself to get started. Once you start, you're halfway done. Now once you've started. Don't stop. This may seem obvious but prepare by using the restroom or getting a glass of water beforehand. Once you've been working for a while, usually >20 minutes, you're in the zone. Congratulations. Don't award yourself. You can go to the bathroom, get more water, but make sure you're getting back to work. If you sense yourself getting off task, X THAT WINDOW! AND FOCUS! It's as easy as that. It also helps to be challenging yourself. If you're working on some stupid project that an 11th grader could do then I don't know how you get in the zone. Hard problems take more dedicated concentration which makes diving in the hard part and staying in very easy.