Deep work timer: 25 minutes of language practice (distant thunder), when you want to be left alone

1 Before you start

• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
• Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• If your mind is already racing, write down the three loudest thoughts before you begin.
• Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.

2 While the timer runs

• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
• When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
• Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.

3 When it ends

• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.

4What to put on

distant thunder — Low rumbles with long gaps. Suits people who find sudden noises more distracting than constant ones.