Focus session · practising an instrument · 45 min
45-minute focus block for practising an instrument — a library, if you are tired of apps
A timer, a short prep list, and 45 minutes to drill the hard bars.
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Feel your ribs move. That is all the machinery you need to pay attention to right now. No account, no streak, no notification asking how you feel. We'll be efficient and then you can get on with your day.
1 Before you start
- Put the thing you keep reaching for out of arm's reach.
- Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
- Turn off notifications for the next block, not just to silent.
- Promise yourself you will not check anything until the timer ends, including "just quickly".
- Decide what counts as done for this block. "Two pages" is better than "make progress".
2 While the timer runs
- When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
- The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
- If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
- Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
3 When it ends
- Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
- Roll your shoulders and your neck before the next block.
- Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
4What to put on
a library — Almost nothing: distant footsteps, a chair, a page turning. Useful if you want the feeling of a room where work is normal.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.
If this block does not fit, try 25-minute practising an instrument session with a stream and a timer, when you want to finish something, A 45-minute block for decluttering, with birds at dawn, when nothing else has worked today or 90-minute focus block for data work — forest at dusk, when you have just finished work.