Set the conditions to match the screen

Set the conditions to match the screenDrill setup

1. 1Kill the AI. Disable Cursor TabCursor's original autocomplete: multi-line, edit-aware suggestions you accept with the Tab key. Press Enter for the full definition.'s full suggestions or move to a plain editor; leave only basic word-completion. Pasting from a chat is the exact thing the screen forbids, so practicing with it is practicing the wrong skill.
2. 2Pick a backend-relevant language. Use the one you would actually reach for on the job - TypeScript, Python or Rust. Do not learn a new language for the interview; depth in one beats shallow breadth.
3. 3Time-box to ~45 minutes per problem. Stop when the clock stops, even mid-bug. The screen is timed and the recovery skill you need is finishing a coherent solution under a deadline, not a perfect one with unlimited time.
4. 4Narrate out loud. Talk through your approach, the data structure choice and the complexity as you type. Silence in a real screen reads as a candidate who can code but can't communicate and you are interviewing to lead engineers.