Constraint Play: 20 Minutes Without a Mouse

Constraint: Pick one computer task you were about to do, and do it for 20 minutes using the keyboard only—no mouse (or trackpad). Put the mouse somewhere out of reach.

Write this after 20 minutes. (1) Which task it was and how far you actually got. (2) Note the new behaviors you were forced into because you had no mouse (searching for shortcuts, working in a different order, giving up and taking a detour, etc.). (3) Note at least two things this constraint revealed—facts about your own way of working that you learned for the first time.