Focus session · language practice · 25 min
Deep work timer: 25 minutes of language practice (a fireplace), when you are short on time
One block of language practice with a fireplace underneath. One pomodoro, long enough to get somewhere and short enough to start.
25:00
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Nothing needs to be decided in the next few minutes. Park the decisions. Pick this one when you are short on time. This works better when you don't overthink it.
1 Before you start
- Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
- If your mind is already racing, write down the three loudest thoughts before you begin.
- Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
- Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
- Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
2 While the timer runs
- Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
- If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
- The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
- If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
3 When it ends
- If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
- Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
- Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
4What to put on
a fireplace — Crackles and a low roar underneath. Warm, irregular, and undemanding.
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