Deep work timer: 25 minutes of data work (a fan or air conditioner), when you want to finish something

1 Before you start

• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• Choose one question to answer in this block, rather than a whole subject to cover.
• Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.
• Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.

2 While the timer runs

• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.

3 When it ends

• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.

4What to put on

a fan or air conditioner — A constant mechanical hum with no variation. The lack of change is the point — nothing in it asks for your attention.