If there's one thing that's been rather consistent in my capacity to get results from the weird shit I do, it's "avoid anything that takes a long amount of time, concentrate all effort into something fast and hard-hitting."
This goes even for relaxation exercises/self-hypnosis techniques. A lot of people do this thing where you relax gradually, relaxing each body part sequentially.
That's not for me. Currently what I'm doing is mentally counting backwards from ten, and with each number I imagine in my mind, a bit more tension or whatever leaves my body in a rather dramatic poof.
By the time I hit zero, I'm usually in a nice little hypnotic state. If not, I can repeat the countdown from ten again. Or sometimes even just count down from three.
Also, if I get an itch or an urge to move when that happens, I don't force myself to hold still. I try to move as quickly and "unconsciously" as possible - don't think about the movement, just let the body's autopilot handle it. If it sets me back at all, then I maybe repeat the countdown, or just count down from three. It seems to work all right. It's much easier to just scratch the itch and get going again rather than force myself to hold still while the itch continues for minutes, adding more stress that will set me back even more.
"If you do X then you have to start all over again from the beginning" is something that's only ever stressed me out - in fact, it was a very demoralizing approach for me - so I don't do it that way. I might just back up a little, or do it for a little longer, but I don't force myself to start over from the beginning. I find that my skill increases better if I allow myself to go through a whole process badly instead of forcing myself to start over from the beginning anytime something goes a little off-track.
