12-minute guided letting go practice for deep work — in the office

About this practice

12 minutes to meet deep work with less of a fight. A letting go practice, in the office. A guided session of about 12 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: deep work

Deep work requires a low distraction floor. Modern work rarely provides one, so the transition into it has to be manufactured.

It tends to show up as:

Getting interrupted every few minutes
Starting five things and finishing none
Feeling busy but not productive

A short deliberate transition tells the body the next stretch is different. Without one, the previous meeting follows you in.

Doing this at your desk

Feet flat, back supported, screen away from your eyeline
You can do this with your eyes open if the office makes closing them awkward
Unclench the jaw and drop the shoulders first, before anything else

Nobody needs to know you are doing it. Keep it invisible if that makes it possible.

How letting go works

Letting go is about loosening grip rather than dropping things. It works on the effort attached to a problem — the holding, rehearsing and bracing — which is separable from the problem itself.

Pick one thing you are gripping and loosen a single finger
Release the effort with the exhale, not the issue
Set down temporarily; you can pick it up again after

What happens, minute by minute

0:00Let your next exhale be a sigh, if a sigh is what's waiting there.
0:14Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
0:29For the next few minutes, the only job is to notice what's already happening.
0:43Let your body be exactly as tired as it is.
0:55Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
1:08Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
1:21Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
1:33Feel the back of your neck. That's a place that holds a lot.
1:46Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
1:58Notice your whole body as one shape, sitting or lying here.
2:10You are allowed to be unimpressed by the pull of notifications. Indifference is a legitimate response.
2:25If the task that needs a clear head is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
2:43Notice your breathing getting quieter on its own, without you deciding anything.
2:56Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
3:08Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
3:24Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
3:34If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
3:47Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
4:03Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
4:14Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking.
4:25With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
4:40Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
4:52Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
5:04You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
5:19Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
5:30Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
5:42Notice your ribs on both sides. Wide, not squeezed.
5:53Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
6:06Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
6:16Feel your heart somewhere in there, doing its work without instructions.
6:28Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
6:42Let this one be unhurried.
6:51Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
7:03Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
7:14No need to open your eyes yet.
7:24Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
7:36Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
7:49Stay here a little longer.
7:58Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
8:10You do not have to like the open tabs of your attention to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
8:27A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
8:38If the pull of notifications has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
8:55Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
9:06There is a part of you that has handled hard moments before. That part is here now, even if it is quiet.
9:24If you catch yourself fighting the open tabs of your attention, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
9:42Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
9:56Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
10:10If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
10:23Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
10:34We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
10:49A few seconds more.
10:58If you're going straight back to work, take ten seconds at the doorway first.
11:12Start to notice the edges of your body again, and the surface you're on.
11:26Let the pause stretch out.

Questions people ask

What does this session help with?

Deep work requires a low distraction floor. Modern work rarely provides one, so the transition into it has to be manufactured. A short deliberate transition tells the body the next stretch is different. Without one, the previous meeting follows you in.

Where and when should I do this one?

Feet flat, back supported, screen away from your eyeline. Nobody needs to know you are doing it. Keep it invisible if that makes it possible.

What actually happens during the 12 minutes?

Letting go is about loosening grip rather than dropping things. It works on the effort attached to a problem — the holding, rehearsing and bracing — which is separable from the problem itself.

Meditation is a practice, not a treatment. If you are dealing with ongoing distress, please also reach out to a professional.