Deep work timer: 90 minutes of applications and forms (distant thunder), when you need to stop thinking about work

1 Before you start

• Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
• Tell yourself the goal is time spent, not output produced.
• 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.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.

2 While the timer runs

• When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.

3 When it ends

• Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.

4What to put on

distant thunder — Low rumbles with long gaps. Suits people who find sudden noises more distracting than constant ones.