45-minute focus session for practising an instrument with a fireplace, when you only have a few minutes

1 Before you start

• Write down the one thing you are going to do, in a single sentence, before you start.
• Remind yourself that you are allowed to produce something mediocre in the first pass.
• Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
• Expect to want to stop at about the eight-minute mark. That is normal and it passes.
• Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.

2 While the timer runs

• If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
• When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
• Notice the moment your hand moves toward your phone. That moment is the whole skill.
• When the timer feels too long, look at it less. The clock is not the task.

3 When it ends

• Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
• Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
• Take the break away from the screen, even if it is just the other side of the room.

4What to put on

a fireplace — Crackles and a low roar underneath. Warm, irregular, and undemanding.