The Method

Tamer Playbook

Four steps that work on any idea, at any moment, whatever you happen to be doing when it lands. Each one takes under a minute. It has to be that simple — the people who need it are the easiest in the world to distract.

Before the four steps

Build your Drey

A drey is the nest a squirrel builds out of twigs and leaves. Yours is a picture of everything you have going right now and how committed you are to each one — built in a single sitting through a short interview, not a documenting project you'll abandon by Thursday.

It isn't a step. It's the foundation that makes step 02 answerable in the moment. Without it, “does this help what I'm working on?” is a question you have to stop and think about — and stopping to think is exactly where the squirrel gets loose. Every pass through the four steps keeps your Drey current.

Catch

Get it out of your head in ten seconds.

An idea shows up while you're in the middle of something else. That's normal, and it isn't the problem. Say it or type it once and it's captured — no filing, no folders, no deciding anything yet. Ten seconds, because anything longer won't actually get done.

Check

One question, asked in the moment.

Does this help what I'm working on right now? If yes, it joins that work. If no, it gets parked. That's the whole decision. The big “is this a good idea” question does not get asked here — never in the heat of the moment, when every new idea feels like the best one you've ever had.

Park

Held, not lost.

Parked doesn't mean rejected and it doesn't mean forgotten. The idea is held, along with what you were doing when it arrived, and you go straight back to the work you were already on. Your current project is protected by default.

Return

Decide once the excitement has cooled.

The idea comes back later — after the rush wears off, or when a project finishes and you genuinely have room. Now you can judge it honestly. Three outcomes, and all three are fine: build it, bank it, or bin it.

Want the long version?

The Squirrel Tamer goes deeper.

The Playbook is the system. The book is the story, the research, and the full walkthrough behind it — including how to build your Drey and the templates that go with it.

About the book