Deep work timer: 50 minutes of brainstorming (birds at dawn), when you have been on screens all day

1 Before you start

• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
• Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
• Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
• Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.

2 While the timer runs

• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
• If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
• It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
• Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.

3 When it ends

• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
• Note what you actually got done, not what you meant to get done.
• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.

4What to put on

birds at dawn — Bright but not sharp. Better for early sessions than for late ones.