Deep work timer: 50 minutes of language practice (a stream), after a difficult conversation

1 Before you start

• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
• Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.

2 While the timer runs

• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
• If you are stuck, say the problem out loud. It changes what you can see.

3 When it ends

• Resist the urge to review the work straight away. Come back to it later with fresh eyes.
• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
• Write down the question you could not answer, so it has somewhere to live.

4What to put on

a stream — Running water with small variation. Softer than rain and less repetitive than a fan.