Set down everything you are carrying, just for the next few minutes.
Not forever.
Only long enough to see clearly.
Close your eyes and feel the chair beneath you, the floor under your feet.
Your body is already here.
Your mind is somewhere else.
We are going to bring it back.
Take a slow breath in, and let it out longer than it came in.
Again.
Now notice the sound of the room around you.
Not to judge it, only to notice what is already happening.
Now bring to mind the one thing that matters most in the next hour.
Not the whole list.
The one thing.
See it plainly.
And ask yourself: what is the very first small action?
Not the project.
The first action.
Perhaps it is opening a document.
Perhaps it is one phone call.
Rest your attention on that small action, and let everything else wait outside the door.
If your mind runs ahead, bring it back to the breath, and then back to the first action.
That is the whole practice.
Begin again, as many times as you need.
When you open your eyes, do only that first thing.
