Deep work timer: 50 minutes of practising an instrument (birds at dawn), when you only have a few minutes

1 Before you start

• Make sure your chair is at a height where your feet are flat on the floor.
• Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
• Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
• Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
• Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.

2 While the timer runs

• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
• 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 finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.

3 When it ends

• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
• Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
• 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.