- Use the 15 minute rule to get started, only agree to do 15-20 minutes of work to see if you are flowing in that project, most of the time once you get started and loaded up the project in your mental space you can easily flow on it. Pomodoro is nice as well, but the 15 minute get started rule has less commitment needed and usually works, or just plan to do at least one tomato and you end up doing many.
- Leave a currently solved code part partially done or leave a compile issue on the area you were working on, then wake up the next day, finish that part and you can flow right into other work because the domain is in your mind.
- Multiple projects and work on another project during procrastination or a thinking spot of the current project. Have main work projects, side projects, fun projects, some are more fun, more work or just tedious/rote that you can use depending on your productivity or work style of the day.
- Motivators and triggers: music (usually a playlist that is used during work to make it more regular), coffee/gum/work food, focus by turning off distractions except for breaks, stand up regularly and walk around when stuck on any issues that need to be done, and visualize shipping.
- Creative Open/Focused Closed state: do creative work in the open state, block out time and explore, do must be done work in the closed state, minimize distractions and exploration [1].
- Start the day right, work on something simple or one check in for instance before reddit/HN/news or distractions, sometimes the first thing you do in the morning can influence your whole day, reward yourself with distractions but base yourself in production at least 2 to 1 productivity to fun/distraction.
Ultimately be a pro, a pro can start working to a high level even when they don't want to, sometimes you need to jump start or get a rolling start but you can develop a habit to get moving and ship.
Even just aiming to spend 1 minute now can be enough if it's an open ended task I can enter flow on. Add doc comments for a class. Fix a few typos. Wash a dish. One, tiny little thing.
"I'll just get this one thing done real quick" instead of "I'll just check reddit real quick" - makes the lies one tells oneself work in your productivity's favor instead of against it for once ;)
I'm using a weekly checklist to keep routine chores small and "1 minute"able. Instead of letting mail pile up for months, once a week makes it a trivial task of immediately dumping a few opened letters into the recycling, and occasionally putting one in a filing cabinet.
Practice self care: Sleep, eat, groom, exercise, organize, relax, and socialize well (even if that's just a few minutes with a trusted friend for an introvert.) A tired, ill-fed, slovenly, disorganized, stressed out, anti-social couch potato will have difficulty being as motivated no matter how many productivity hacks they practice. Speaking from experience. (The mindset: "That's not important right now - I should be working on X instead! But I'm lazy...")
I always start/restart my job after a break by doing some trivial refactoring or writing comments at various parts of the code. This is a great way to "reload" the big picture into your memory. Eventually your brain will be active enough to tackle a more tricky part. I'd recommend this to anyone who feels down in morning.
I can add a few, which helped me a lot through my depression and getting things done in general:
- Plan your breaks: "I'll do one hours of this and then have a quick break and go for a walk"
- Set yourself rewards. It doesn't matter how tiny they are, but - atleast for me - they are effective: "When I finish this today I'll get a nice meal at my favorite restaurant".
- Set yourself a time limit. This goes more or less with the one above. Set yourself some time limit that you'll only work til something like 5pm and then enjoy your free time. It doesn't matter if you have finished your work today or not. Maybe it wasn't even possible to finish it in one day at the first place. Plus what helps me a lot is, if you don't finish your current task in time make a quick bullet list for your task for next day. Be realistic and start with super simple goals.
Use a website blocker for the last one. Make sure you set it first thing in the morning, otherwise you have lost the battle.
Another thing I add is accept five lines of code as an acceptable day of work. Because usually it leads to more, but if it's just one of those days, five lines is infinitely better than zero, and you are far more likely to get out of your rut tomorrow because it's a new starting point. Feeling bad about things just gets you into a writers block state and exacerbates the situation. If you have done five lines and know your brain is toast, don't feel bad about taking a mental break for the rest of the day.
I like to take this a step further, and I think I read it in a Brian Tracey book once. If I have a list of things that need doing that I am not especially excited about, I'll go through them doing five minutes max on each. This normally sufficiently unsticks each, but if it doesn't, then do a round of 10m on each.
> - Leave a currently solved code part partially done or leave a compile issue on the area you were working on
One way I handle this is by forcing myself to keep and update a "Next Work" list (in an outliner) that keeps a very current todo list for each project. Generally I'll update it each morning and break down the immediate next work into tasks that only take a minute or two to get that momentum going
> - Motivators and triggers
I'm only slightly ashamed to admit I make heavy use of:
This will not work for everyone as I do the same with airplane mode. I figure if it is that much of an emergency, a police officer will show to my door with terrible news.
I am in the privileged position that nobody needs to contact me in an emergency. Alternatively they can call my land line, or if they know who I'm with, ring her instead.
> Use the 15 minute rule to get started, only agree to do 15-20 minutes of work to see if you are flowing in that project, most of the time once you get started and loaded up the project in your mental space you can easily flow on it.
I used to have a cheap but nice looking 20 min hourglass on my desk for just this reason. When I needed to get started on something, I just flip it and commit to working for just that amount of time. More often than not, before I know it, I only notice the hourglass empty when I'm on a roll with the task.
Some great advice here, especially the item to leave unfinished a simple task that you can pick up first thing the following morning.
I'd also add, consider the day worthwhile if you just achieve one task. Do that for a few days and you'll find you can move on to 2 tasks, 3 tasks, etc quite easily.
- Multiple projects and work on another project during procrastination or a thinking spot of the current project. Have main work projects, side projects, fun projects, some are more fun, more work or just tedious/rote that you can use depending on your productivity or work style of the day.
I try and avoid this as I find my side-tasks far too interesting and distractive!
I use all of these and they work for me. I'll add that sometimes at the end of my day I'll do a bunch of @todo comments in code I am working on. Either stuff I want to do tomorrow or notes on figuring out a problem.
If I was struggling with those, I generally resolve them very quickly the next day. Subconscious, fresh brain, or both. I don't know, but it works for me.
+1, can vouch for:
>Leave a currently solved code part partially done or leave a compile issue on the area you were working on, then wake up the next day, finish that part and you can flow right into other work because the domain is in your mind.
- Use the 15 minute rule to get started, only agree to do 15-20 minutes of work to see if you are flowing in that project, most of the time once you get started and loaded up the project in your mental space you can easily flow on it. Pomodoro is nice as well, but the 15 minute get started rule has less commitment needed and usually works, or just plan to do at least one tomato and you end up doing many.
- Leave a currently solved code part partially done or leave a compile issue on the area you were working on, then wake up the next day, finish that part and you can flow right into other work because the domain is in your mind.
- Multiple projects and work on another project during procrastination or a thinking spot of the current project. Have main work projects, side projects, fun projects, some are more fun, more work or just tedious/rote that you can use depending on your productivity or work style of the day.
- Motivators and triggers: music (usually a playlist that is used during work to make it more regular), coffee/gum/work food, focus by turning off distractions except for breaks, stand up regularly and walk around when stuck on any issues that need to be done, and visualize shipping.
- Creative Open/Focused Closed state: do creative work in the open state, block out time and explore, do must be done work in the closed state, minimize distractions and exploration [1].
- Start the day right, work on something simple or one check in for instance before reddit/HN/news or distractions, sometimes the first thing you do in the morning can influence your whole day, reward yourself with distractions but base yourself in production at least 2 to 1 productivity to fun/distraction.
Ultimately be a pro, a pro can start working to a high level even when they don't want to, sometimes you need to jump start or get a rolling start but you can develop a habit to get moving and ship.
[1] https://genius.com/John-cleese-lecture-on-creativity-annotat...