Focus session · practising an instrument · 50 min
50-minute focus session for practising an instrument with café murmur, when you need to stop thinking about work
50 minutes on practising an instrument — slowly, with the metronome. Fifty minutes, the length of a therapy hour, with ten minutes off afterwards.
50:00
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Let your shoulders drop about a centimetre. That is roughly where most of us keep the day. Work thoughts are allowed to be there. They just do not get to drive. Straight through, at a normal pace.
1 Before you start
- Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
- Promise yourself you will not check anything until the timer ends, including "just quickly".
- Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
- Tell yourself the goal is time spent, not output produced.
- Close every tab that is not needed for this one task. Not minimised — closed.
2 While the timer runs
- It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
- If you feel restless, change your posture rather than your task.
- When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
- If you start tidying your desk, that is avoidance. Sit back down.
3 When it ends
- Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
- Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
- Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
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.
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