Personal Retreats

2025-09-05

In Buddhism it’s common for meditation practitioners to go on silent retreats for periods of a week or more where they can dedicate all of their time to meditation.

I think this should be a more common thing to do, even if you don’t meditate. Instead of meditation, pick something that you want to do or learn. John Carmack has famously done these for programming. But any topic could work. You could spend your time practicing an instrument, studying neuroscience, or reading classic literature.

A week seems like a good length of time. It’s just long enough to remain focused on your goal without burning out. A month could be interesting to try, but I think I’d run out of steam.

Some tips:

Be specific

Clearly state what your goal for your retreat is. It could be “build a game engine from scratch that I can build space invaders in,” or “learn Capricho Arabe on the guitar,” or just to enjoy yourself and read all day. Having a simple and well-defined goal helps you to stay focused.

Solitude

If possible, try to spend all of your time in solitude. You want most of your time for this retreat to be spent on your goal. Turn airplane mode on. If your goal doesn’t require your computer, don’t bring it. Don’t check email, social media, or text messages. Tell your friends you will be on a retreat for a week and that you’ll talk to them when you return. If you’re programming, see if you can download all the docs you need in advance so you don’t have to use the internet.

Stay healthy

Sleep well! It doesn’t matter what time you go to bed, just make sure you get at least 7.5 hours of sleep per night. Exercise if you can. If you can’t, at least go for a long walk every day, ideally as a break between sessions. Going on a walk is a relaxing way to take a break, move your body, and let your mind digest what you’ve been working on.

Plan meals in advance

Cook for yourself or order out, just make sure you don’t have to spend time thinking about what to eat. If you’re cooking, have a meal plan and buy all your groceries up front. If not, know in advance where you will eat most meals. Choosing what or where to eat can take up a surprising amount of time, so try to eliminate that in advance.

Leave your house

If you can afford it, try to book a stay somewhere. The shift in environment can help you orient to what you will be doing for the week. You can do a retreat in your home, but the familiar environment can make it easy to slip into your typical habits. Having another space that you travel to and arrive at makes the start time feel more discrete: now I’ve arrived and my retreat begins. Stay in or close to nature if possible.

Also, going somewhere else can make it easier simply because there’s nothing else to do. If I decide to do a retreat at home that starts, for instance, on a certain day when I wake up, I have to choose to start the retreat when I actually wake up, and continue to choose it throughout the day and the week. There’s always the option of just stopping and getting on with my life. But if I’m not at home, I don’t have to think about it so much. It’s either focus or leave.

I know that booking a place in nature for a week can be expensive, so I want to stress that it’s not mandatory. You can definitely do it at home (and I have!), it’s just slightly harder.

If you end up doing one of these, please let me know! I’d love to hear about how it went for you.