Focus session · practising an instrument · 50 min
50-minute practising an instrument session with vinyl crackle and a timer, when you are doing this for the first time
Sit down, press start, and drill the hard bars for 50 minutes. 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 next exhale be a sigh, if a sigh is what's waiting there. If this is your first go, stay with the plainest version of the instructions. We'll be efficient and then you can get on with your day.
1 Before you start
- Take one slow breath before you press start, so the session has a beginning.
- Decide what you will do if you get stuck: write the problem out, then move on.
- Close the door, or put headphones on, whichever signals "working" to the people around you.
- Decide that today's session does not have to be good. It has to happen.
- Go to the toilet first. It sounds trivial until you are mid-sentence.
2 While the timer runs
- When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
- If nothing is working, write badly on purpose for two minutes.
- When you finish a piece, pause for three seconds before starting the next. It keeps the pace honest.
- It is fine to stare at the wall for a minute. That is often where the answer is.
3 When it ends
- Have a drink of water before you check anything.
- Put the notes you made where you will find them next time.
- Look out of a window for thirty seconds. Your eyes have been at one distance for a while.
4What to put on
vinyl crackle — A thin layer of surface noise over nothing much. Just enough texture to stop the room feeling empty.
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