Deep work timer: 50 minutes of admin and email (brown noise), on a day that started badly

1 Before you start

• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends, even mid-sentence.
• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.

2 While the timer runs

• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
• If you feel the urge to check something, write it on the paper beside you and keep going. Deal with the list afterwards.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
• If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.

3 When it ends

• Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.
• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.

4What to put on

brown noise — Lower and softer than white noise, closer to a waterfall heard from a distance. Good if white noise feels too hissy.