Deep work timer: 50 minutes of language practice (café murmur), when you have been meaning to start

1 Before you start

• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
• Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
• Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
• Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.

2 While the timer runs

• 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.
• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.

3 When it ends

• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
• Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.

4What to put on

café murmur — The blur of other people talking, with none of the words close enough to follow. Some people concentrate better with a low level of company.