tl;dr:Each time Dan lost focus and tried to login to Twitter he updated a spreadsheet called "Twitter Attempts," where he would note what he was doing right before. This taught Dan he lost focus due to the following: (1) A shift between pragmatic and intuitive modes of thought. (2) Emotional shift. (3) Beginning of an interval of waiting. (4) Completion of a task.
tl;dr:There are often procedures that need automating. They are focus-intensive yet require little thought. These are a "slog" and can be turned into a "do-nothing script" that "encodes the instructions of a slog, encapsulating each step (that needs to happen) in a function." Dan provides an example and believes the value is immense - (1) it's easier to power through the slog. (2) It's requires less activation energy. (3) It makes future automation easier.