Deep work timer: 25 minutes of portfolio work (a fireplace), after eating too much

1 Before you start

• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
• Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.

2 While the timer runs

• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
• 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.

3 When it ends

• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.

4What to put on

a fireplace — Crackles and a low roar underneath. Warm, irregular, and undemanding.