Deep work timer: 25 minutes of admin and email (a library), if you have done this a hundred times

1 Before you start

• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Tell yourself the goal is time spent, not output produced.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.

2 While the timer runs

• If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.
• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.

3 When it ends

• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
• Have a drink of water before you check anything.
• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.

4What to put on

a library — Almost nothing: distant footsteps, a chair, a page turning. Useful if you want the feeling of a room where work is normal.