Focus session · practising an instrument · 45 min
45-minute practising an instrument session with café murmur and a timer, if you have done this a hundred times
Sit down, press start, and drill the hard bars for 45 minutes. A single class period, the length most people can hold before the quality drops.
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Let your tongue rest down, away from the roof of your mouth. If you have done this a hundred times, change one small thing tonight. Straight through, at a normal pace.
1 Before you start
- Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
- Accept that the first five minutes will feel like wading. Wading counts.
- Set the timer where you can see it, or where you can deliberately not see it.
- Remember that motivation usually arrives after starting, not before.
- Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
2 While the timer runs
- When you notice you have drifted, do not restart the block. Just come back and carry on counting from where the timer is.
- If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
- If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
- Notice whether you are working or performing work. They look similar from the outside.
3 When it ends
- Have a drink of water before you check anything.
- Leave the file open if you are coming back. Closing it makes restarting harder.
- Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
4What to put on
café murmur — The blur of other people talking, with none of the words close enough to follow. Some people concentrate better with a low level of company.
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 Deep work timer: 25 minutes of studying (birds at dawn), when nothing else has worked today, A 45-minute block for data work, with rain on a window, when you only have a few minutes or 50-minute research session with rain on a window and a timer, when you feel fine and want to stay that way.