Deep Work on Windows: Distraction-Free Setup Guide

Turn alerts off with the Do not disturb switch in Settings. Dim every window except the one in front of you. Start LiquidFocus on its default 25-minute timer for the hard task. That trio is the setup for a hard task on Windows.

Cal Newport used the name deep work for a hard task done without hopping away to mail. Replies, forms, and meetings sit on the other side of that name. The controls below are the Windows switches for that hard task.

Do not disturb

The Do not disturb switch stops most banners from apps on this PC. It does not close any of the websites on its own, and it does not dim the other windows on the desktop. Use the switch for a banner that pulls you off the page in front of you.

The label for those hours is Turn on do not disturb automatically on the Notifications page. Press Win+A to open Quick Settings on the corner of the screen. Click the Do not disturb button in that same panel. The button follows the same breakthrough list you set in Settings.

Clock keeps a timed session called "Focus sessions" on its main screen. You can ask that session to turn Do not disturb on with its own box. That session still does not stop a website from loading in the browser.

Other windows

FocusDim dims the windows behind the one you are using. Active mode leaves only the front window bright on the screen. The default hotkey for FocusDim is Ctrl+Shift+D on Windows. The strength slider runs from 10% to 90%, with 60% as the default.

App mode leaves every window from that same app bright, so an editor and its terminal stay readable together. All Windows mode dims the desktop and the taskbar when a second app, such as the browser, has to stay bright too.

Drag escape is on by default, separate from the mode. During a drag, the dimming fades to reveal the drop target, then returns. You can exclude one app from dimming across your monitors. You can pick a different dim color in the same settings area. You can turn one whole monitor off from that same place.

Mac users of HazeOver can use FocusDim for the same dimming on Windows. The dimming guide shows each mode on its own page.

The timer

LiquidFocus is the timer shipped in that same PeakFlow installer. The default run is 25 minutes, then a 5-minute break. Four of those runs lead to a 15-minute long break. A timer inside a browser tab is gone with that closed tab. LiquidFocus stays available outside every browser window on the PC.

Breaks stay waiting, with a separate option for ones that start on their own. Turn automatic breaks on only when you want the next break to begin without a click from you yourself at the desk.

The camera check stays off on a fresh install of the app. You turn the camera check on yourself from the LiquidFocus settings. That check is a Pro feature, covered by the 14-day Pro trial that comes with the download. The camera looks only for a face inside the frame. The check does not follow your eyes around the screen.

The running timer records an interruption for a gap outside the frame. The default wait for that out-of-frame gap is 5 seconds. The pause that came from a missing face on your camera ends once the face is back in the frame again. A pause you started yourself is not resumed by the camera.

Each camera frame is checked locally on this computer only. The app discards that single camera frame on the spot. No video file from the camera is stored on this PC. No picture from that check is sent off this PC at all.

The 25-minute pattern is spelled out in the Pomodoro timer guide.

Websites on the timer

During a running work session, a local helper on 127.0.0.1 tells the PeakFlow browser extension which sites to block. The default sites are YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, TikTok, Netflix, Twitter, and X. The block lasts only for that one work session on the timer. It is not a block for every program on the PC by itself.

You need the PeakFlow browser extension installed for the helper to have a listener. Cold Turkey and Freedom are separate apps with their own schedules. Use them for a block that should remain outside a LiquidFocus session. The session list returns on its own at the end of the work timer.

Each app's volume

A chat ping can still cut through music from another app on the same PC. SoundSplit gives each app its own volume slider with memory for those levels. SoundSplit has no live meter for the master volume on the PC. Turn the chat apps down for the hard task, and leave the music app at the level you already like.

A meeting chime still plays from any app whose slider is up. You set the sliders and leave them for the next sitting. Longer notes on the sliders are in the per-app volume guide.

MeetReady

MeetReady checks both the camera and the microphone ahead of a meeting. With that switch on, MeetReady can open itself 2 minutes ahead of a meeting. The default hotkey for MeetReady is Ctrl+Shift+M on Windows. MeetReady does not paint a full-screen alert across the task on screen. The 2-minute switch is what makes that check open on its own.

The camera check inside LiquidFocus is a different control from MeetReady. MeetReady looks at the camera and the microphone for the meeting ahead. LiquidFocus looks for a face only during a timer with that Pro check turned on.

One sitting

Turn the Do not disturb switch on before any other control. Press Ctrl+Shift+D to put FocusDim into Active mode for the sitting. Start LiquidFocus on the 25-minute default with the chat sliders already down. With that switch on, MeetReady can still open 2 minutes ahead of a meeting. Put the hard task on the calendar the same way you put a meeting there.

Open mail at moments you chose, rather than on each banner that arrives. The same desk and the same first keys each morning make the start shorter. The timer is what shows whether those 25-minute runs actually happened.

Fast replies

Open Slack at the top of the hour for a job that needs a reply inside that hour, then return to the timer. Keep the hourly gap for a morning with no real emergency. Headphones are what cut the noise from the room around the desk. A booked room is what cuts a walk-up from a colleague nearby. FocusDim cannot stop a person already standing at your desk.

Keep the default 25-minute length even on a day when you abandon the task early. The 5-minute break is the moment built for standing up. Stay with those default lengths across several sittings at the desk.