Deep work timer: 90 minutes of design work (vinyl crackle), on a day that started badly

1 Before you start

• 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".
• Dim the screen slightly. Bright screens make long sessions harder than they need to be.
• Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
• 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.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• When you get an idea for something else, park it. Do not follow it.

3 When it ends

• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
• Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
• Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.

4What to put on

vinyl crackle — A thin layer of surface noise over nothing much. Just enough texture to stop the room feeling empty.