Dedicated chess space
In last week’s NextLevelChess newsletter, GM Noël Studer wrote about how to get rid of distractions. It was an excellent article where we explained four steps to get you more focused:
Creating a "Chess Zone"
Blocking all notifications on digital devices
Letting my loved ones know when I train
Hydrating before each session
They were all good tips but the first one got my attention. The idea of having a dedicated space that I would use just for chess sounded appealing to me.
This is my desk where I work, train chess, watch movies and youtube videos, play games, etc.
And I have a lot of difficulties focusing when I work and do my chess training, a youtube video is just a click away. So I decided to create a “Chess Zone”. I moved my board to a smaller desk and started using another computer just for chess.
So for the last four days, I have been doing my chess training in the dedicated chess zone. I noticed that my mind is wandering way less and I’m not getting distracted as much. Four days is still too early but I am liking the results so far. I will give you an update later in a few weeks’ time to see if it still holds up.