Deep work timer: 90 minutes of practising an instrument (a stream), if you are sceptical about all of this

1 Before you start

• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Let go of the version of this task you imagined doing perfectly.
• Have a piece of paper beside you for the thoughts that will try to interrupt.
• Tell yourself the goal is time spent, not output produced.
• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.

2 While the timer runs

• When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
• If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
• If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.

3 When it ends

• If it went badly, note one thing that worked anyway. There is usually one.
• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.
• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.

4What to put on

a stream — Running water with small variation. Softer than rain and less repetitive than a fan.