A Focus Meditation Before Deep Work

A focus meditation for the minutes before deep work. Your attention is already scattered across messages and lists, so this short practice gathers it back to one point: the breath at the tip of your nose, three breaths at a time, and then the single first piece of work you will begin with. A quiet morning, piano, and wide pauses give you room to practice. About three and a half minutes.

Transcript

The work is open in front of you. Before you begin. Give me two minutes. Sit so your feet reach the floor. Let your hands rest where they land. Soften your eyes or close them. Notice how many things are asking for you right now. Messages. The list. The thing from yesterday. None of them needs you in the next two minutes. They will keep. Now find one point. The air at the tip of your nose. Warm on the way out Stay there for 3 breaths. Only this. Three more. When a thought pulls you away. Tell it later. And come back. That is the whole skill. Noticing you left. Coming back. Each return makes the next one a little easier. Check your shoulders. Let them drop. Unclench your jaw. Now choose the one thing you will work on first. Not the whole day. Just the first piece. See yourself starting. Where your hands will be. The first sentence. The first line. The first call. For the next stretch of time. That is the only thing. Everything else can wait at the door. One full breath in Let it go slowly. Open your eyes and begin.