Deep work timer: 25 minutes of drawing (a washing machine), when you are somewhere unfamiliar

1 Before you start

• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
• Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
• Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.

2 While the timer runs

• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.

3 When it ends

• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.
• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Have a drink of water before you check anything.

4What to put on

a washing machine — Domestic, mechanical, and oddly steadying. The sound of something else being dealt with.