Day Crafting: Make your days harder

Oct 24, 2025 10:06 am

The first Foundation course finished this week. The hardest part was deciding what to leave out as six sessions became two. The course is framed around the Preparation method, which has lots of applications and value.

Rewriting gave me the chance to add more exercises. You might find this one useful.

Friction Add / Remove.

The intention is to make the unwanted path harder and the helpful one easier.

Frictions to add

Given that the easiest, default path isn't always the best one, a bit of resistance can nudge us towards preferred behaviours.

These are some examples to inspire you to come up with better ones.

The scroll tax: unlock socials only after 10 star jumps and one glass of water.
Alarm clock exile: park your phone by the kettle so snooze requires walking.
Inbox delay: email opens only after your first block of deep work.
Snack faff factor: hide treats in a box labelled Annual Accounts.
WiFi curfew timer: plug the router into a timer that clicks off at 10pm.
Shoe rule: lace-ups for deep work; slippers are for scrolling.
Remote control quarantine: stash the TV remote in a biscuit tin on a high shelf.
Elephant countdown: promise your Elephant the treat in ten minutes; it usually forgets.

Frictions to remove

Design in ease where it can serves you. Preparing the equipment, materials or environment saves a willpower wrestle at the working surface.

Shoes by the bed: running kit ready where your feet land.
Auto open document: leave tomorrow’s file open with the cursor blinking.
Cook ready tubs: batch-prepare on Sunday so weekday you just assemble.
Calendar blocks: set routine focus slots reserved before others grab them.
Bedside stretch cue: mat where your feet land so stretching wins by default.
Nice pens bait: favourite pen and pad kept exactly where ideas evaporate.
Fridge fruit front: put the good stuff at eye level to avoid cheese diving.
Finish line ritual: prepare tomorrow’s first step before you clock off.

Try it

Pick your own habit or behaviour that you don't want, think of three frictions to make it harder to do. And think of something you want to do, can you remove frictions, hurdles or complications so it becomes the default?

Group Apprenticeship Offer

I’m putting together some three-person apprenticeships (if you've finished the Foundation, Apprenticeship or read the Introductory workbook).

These would be four x 60–90-minute sessions for people who prefer group work. If that sounds useful, reply to this email and I’ll see what groups might form. (Assume it will cost less than the 1:1 option).