Focus session · practising an instrument · 45 min
Focus session for practising an instrument: 45 minutes, a library, when you are doing this for the first time
45 minutes of practising an instrument, with a library and a note on what to do when you drift.
45:00
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
Start by hearing the furthest sound you can find. If this is your first go, stay with the plainest version of the instructions. Straight through, at a normal pace.
1 Before you start
- Get water now, so you do not have to get up in fifteen minutes.
- Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
- Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
- Give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends, even mid-sentence.
- Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
2 While the timer runs
- If the task suddenly feels impossible, make it smaller rather than stopping. One paragraph. One function. One row.
- The first urge to stop usually arrives early. Sit through it once and the second one is quieter.
- If you are suddenly sleepy, stand up for ten seconds and sit back down.
- If your attention keeps sliding, shorten the next block rather than abandoning this one.
3 When it ends
- Decide whether the next block is the same task or a different one. Do not drift into it.
- Say the session is finished, out loud if you can. It marks the boundary.
- Do not immediately open the thing you were avoiding. Give the block a proper end.
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.