Deep work timer: 90 minutes of research (a washing machine), when you need something unremarkable

1 Before you start

• Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
• Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
• Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
• Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
• Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".

2 While the timer runs

• If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
• If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
• The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.

3 When it ends

• Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.
• Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
• Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.

4What to put on

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