Deep work timer: 45 minutes of applications and forms (a washing machine), when you have tried everything else

1 Before you start

• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
• Tell yourself the goal is time spent, not output produced.
• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
• Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
• Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.

2 While the timer runs

• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
• When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.

3 When it ends

• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
• Have a drink of water before you check anything.
• Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.

4What to put on

a washing machine — Domestic, mechanical, and oddly steadying. The sound of something else being dealt with.