Deep work timer: 25 minutes of practising an

1 Before you start

• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
• Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.

2 While the timer runs

• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.

3 When it ends

• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.
• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.

4What to put on

forest at dusk — Birds settling, leaves moving, nothing sudden. It works because it sounds like a place you can safely ignore.