Deep work timer: 25 minutes of editing (distant traffic), when you need to stop thinking about work

1 Before you start

• 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.
• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
• Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.

2 While the timer runs

• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.

3 When it ends

• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.

4What to put on

distant traffic — A low continuous wash from a road you are not on. Familiar and easy to stop hearing.