Deep work timer: 50 minutes of coding (a library), on a low-energy afternoon

1 Before you start

• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
• Tell yourself the goal is time spent, not output produced.
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.

2 While the timer runs

• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.
• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.
• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.

3 When it ends

• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.
• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.

4What to put on

a library — Almost nothing: distant footsteps, a chair, a page turning. Useful if you want the feeling of a room where work is normal.