Deep work timer: 90 minutes of data work (forest at dusk), when you want something simple

1 Before you start

• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• Plan to leave the last two minutes for writing down where to pick up next time.
• Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
• Promise yourself you will not check anything until the timer ends, including "just quickly".
• Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.

2 While the timer runs

• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.

3 When it ends

• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
• Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.

4What to put on

forest at dusk — Birds settling, leaves moving, nothing sudden. It works because it sounds like a place you can safely ignore.