Deep work timer: 90 minutes of language practice (a washing machine), before you go back to something hard

1 Before you start

• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
• Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
• Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
• Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.

2 While the timer runs

• When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
• It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
• The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.

3 When it ends

• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
• Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.

4What to put on

a washing machine — Domestic, mechanical, and oddly steadying. The sound of something else being dealt with.