Day 20 of 21
Build your personal pre-session workflow — the ritual that makes every session faster
Goal: The best builders are not the most technical. They are the most consistent. Today you design your own personal pre-session checklist and save it as a Skill.
What to do
Write your one-task brief
Before opening Claude Code, write this in a notepad: one sentence describing the single thing you want to exist after today's session that does not exist now. Not a list. One thing. Example: "A complete FAQ page with 6 questions and accordion answers."
Update CLAUDE.md Current Goal
Open your CLAUDE.md file. Replace the Current Goal section with your one-task brief from the previous step.
Create a branch named after today's task
Open GitHub Desktop. Create a branch using a name that describes your task. Examples: "adding-faq-page", "fixing-mobile-layout", "new-pricing-section".
Open Claude Code and choose your mode
Start Claude Code. Choose: default mode for reading or very sensitive work, accept edits (Shift+Tab once) for most building, Plan Mode (Shift+Tab twice from default) for anything touching more than one file, and auto mode only if your account clearly exposes it and you understand the tradeoff.
Create the /session-start Skill
Ask Claude Code to build a Skill that automates your ritual:
Create a Skill called session-start that I can trigger with /session-start. When triggered it should: ask for my one-task brief, remind me to update CLAUDE.md with that goal, confirm I created a GitHub branch, ask which mode I want (normal, plan, or auto), and confirm it is ready to begin. Save to .claude/skills/session-start.mdRun through the complete checklist once
Close Claude Code. Type /session-start in a fresh session. Follow every step of the Skill. Notice how much more focused the session feels with a clear single goal.
Expected result
You have a personal pre-session ritual — written down and automated as a /session-start Skill. Every future session starts focused and safe.
Key takeaway
- One task. CLAUDE.md updated. Branch created. Mode chosen. Context stated. Those five things before every session eliminate the most common hour-wasting mistakes.