Deep work timer: 25 minutes of planning (café murmur), before you go back to something hard

1 Before you start

• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• If you are dreading it, make the first action physical: open the file, sharpen the pencil.
• 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.
• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.

2 While the timer runs

• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.

3 When it ends

• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
• Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.

4What to put on

café murmur — The blur of other people talking, with none of the words close enough to follow. Some people concentrate better with a low level of company.