What is your default move when technique gets messy that actually stuck

I had a disappointing first try, a surprisingly good second try, and then a third attempt that taught me humility. So, naturally, I now have opinions.

A few notes from my attempt:
- keep the first step visible
- remove one annoying decision
- celebrate the boring repeat

Part of me wanted the fancy version with all the tools. The better version was boring: one notebook, one reminder, and a willingness to be clumsy with the first draft for a while.