It starts first thing in the morning which means with the last thing at night.
Thus drifting off with murmurs from headphones is permissible, but only if:
1) The listening is to a hard file and not a stream (so the connection isn’t up all night), and more importantly
2) It’s done on the new quiet machine so that the grinding fan of the old one doesn’t demand attention first thing in the morning.
Also, in terms of bedding down at a fair hour, new crucial rule. You play any game, good boy or bad boy, whenever you want just like always. But you have to set a timer. For an hour or for six if you think you can afford it. But how much time it ends up being, it’s decided beforehand.
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Then the morning.
First piss, and make sure you are comfortable which means warm enough and cool enough. Second, begin boiling a quart of water and drop three scoops of arabica into the press. When it steams, you have four minutes. In those four minutes, sit. Do nothing but listen to who you are. Make notes or don’t. Come here with the notes, or not. But listen, listen. To who you are today and for as long as it takes to become coffee.
No waking the machine until then. That’s all. So far.
I forgot to tell about the typology of distraction.
The ugly: Like the barking animal next door that leads to fantasies of canicide.
The wicked: Games, hot and wet, or cold and dry as in moving terraformers around Planet.
The good: What must be done with hot water to hold a house. So bathing, and laundry, and dishes, and sometimes floors.
The obssessive: Making lists and compiling them endlessly.
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Four minutes, tbh, doesn’t feel like nearly enough.