One of the things that was great about the songwriting retreat was the ability to have focused time. This is Knoydart Time. Where you have more time than usual in your day. Time does not drag and it doesn’t go fast either, there’s just more of it. Someone cooks for you, drives you places, bangs a gong when you are needed so all decisions about what’s next are delegated for you.

There is mostly no mobile signal on the the peninsula and none in the house. Only Wi-fi Internet which is sometimes down. Coupled with a conscious decision not to do social media and minimal interaction with other apps, apart from some iMessage and a lot of music memos and note taking app use. Focused time in masterclasses, lunch, then writing time. One is aware of the deadline for the song review and it’s encouraging to discover what you can do in a few hours, either solo or collaboratively.

I just listened to the recording of my songwriting sessions and my overall impression was how focused I was continually making progress on the song. So, if you want to be in “Knoydart Time” and the feeling of time going slowly, stay focused.

You can learn more about the retreat here.