I heard colors and could smell the rainbow

I once ate a full cup of chocolate-covered espresso beans and thought I was having a spiritual emergency.

Knowing I had a ton of writing work to do that day, I collected essentials: a composition notebook and G2 pen, my laptop, and 2-3 drinky-drinks because I am a Beverage Goblin. Ready to settle in at my desk.

As I walked out of the kitchen with Drink #3 in hand, I noticed my recent Trader Joe’s purchase on the counter. A little plastic bin of chocolate-covered espresso beans.

Perfect! An extra boost to push through all the goals and deadlines today!

For the next hour, I diligently outlined and drafted.

During that hour, I mindlessly munched on those little globs like I was at a pub with a bowl of peanuts.

Friends, let me offer the most important piece of wisdom I will ever share in one of these emails:

Do not, under any circumstances, mindlessly munch on chocolate-covered espresso beans for almost an hour while trying to do focused work.

Needless to say, I didn’t write much that day.

Instead, I found myself curled up on the floor in a shaking fetal position, trying to stop my heart from beating out of my chest on the carpet beside me.

Most days, it’s not chocolate-covered espresso beans that wreck our writing plans.

It’s the quieter stuff; interruptions, mental fog, weird tension we didn’t notice until we sat down to work.

That’s why I made a tiny tool for you.

A 5-minute writing journal page to help you prep for your writing day—and spot what’s going to stand in your way before it actually does.

Since I’m still making it all fancy and designer ready, I’m giving away the basic Google Doc today for free. There’s gonna be more of this kind of thing happening over the next few weeks as I pull more resources together. Yay for you!

(No opt-in, no catch. Just a gift. Because I like you.)

👉 Just click here to get your free copy.

This page is designed to help you ground your writing practice, quickly, so you can get to the real work of the day.

Make as many copies as you need. It’s in a Google Doc for now so you can write on the screen, print it out, scribble wildly…whatever works best for you.

It’s not about planning. You probably don’t need another planner.

You just need five minutes to check in with yourself before you write.

Don’t forget to get your copy and work this into your daily writing practice to clear those cobwebs and get more done.

Without the heart palpitations and rainbow hallucinations.

Enjoy! ~ Elisa

P.S. While I have you: if you haven’t yet, would you mind taking 90-seconds to answer two quick questions? It helps me make better tools like this, based on what writers like you actually need.