When HN users recommended it
2 HN users recommended this between 2013 and 2017, in 2 comments.
20072026
Each tall tick is one HN user's first recommendation. A short tick is the same user again. Click a tick to jump to the comment.
2 HN users recommended this between 2013 and 2017, in 2 comments.
Each tall tick is one HN user's first recommendation. A short tick is the same user again. Click a tick to jump to the comment.
I (informally) study procrastination and attention management, and maintain The Attention Management Blog (http://attnmgmtblog.com). That's not to say my advice will be better than anyone else's in this thread. But there are two really simple things I've found that have helped me maintain focus and momentum, especially when I'm feeling especially distracted.
First, break your larger tasks into absurdly tiny steps. I mean, embarrassingly small steps. “Why would I even need to write that down?”-small steps. As others in this thread have mentioned, when a task is too large, or has too many dependencies, or the next concrete action step is unclear, the easiest thing for our brain to do is to punt it. Our current brains have a lot of confidence in our future brains. Too much, in fact. Breaking a task into steps that are so small that you can't help but do them is hugely helpful.
Second, write things down. Two parts to this. First is that you need a trusted system to capture everything you have to do (all those big tasks, and all the tiny steps that comprise them). I use a Field Notes notebook (http://fieldnotesbrand.com/), and find that writing stuff down on paper is essential. I'm not sure whether it's because it's an analog break from digital stuff, or whether it's more flexible for the kinds of notes I'm writing down, or what. But writing it down on paper is essential. I also have a larger "programmer's notebook" (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00007LV4B/) that I use for longer notes. The second part of the "write things down" piece of advice is to write down what you're working on right now. That can be on paper. I usually prefer to jot it down here: http://charliepark.org/rightnow/ (disclosure: mine, totally free), as it's a temporary notepad that takes up zero resources (no notes I have to save, no Post-Its on my desk I have to revisit and think through, "did I get this done yet?").
One of the best writers on this is David Allen, with his book Getting Things Done, which your local library will have. I also like Cal Newport (http://calnewport.com/blog/). And, of course, if you want short pointers to longer articles, I post a not-overwhelming stream of stuff at http://attnmgmtblog.com.
Been using this for decades; my first boss, a PhD physicist, out of college got me started on using this. It's still being sold today: https://www.amazon.com/National-Computation-Notebook-Inches-...