Deep work timer: 45 minutes of data work (a washing machine), when you need to stop thinking about work

1 Before you start

• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
• Promise yourself you will not check anything until the timer ends, including "just quickly".
• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.

2 While the timer runs

• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.

3 When it ends

• Have a drink of water before you check anything.
• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.
• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.

4What to put on

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