Here's what helped me: 1. LOVE what you do. Figure out how to love what you do. 2. For the stuff you aren't as crazy about: - If you're on a Mac, download Sel

Here's what helped me: 1. LOVE what you do. Figure out how to love what you do. 2. For the stuff you aren't as crazy about: - If you're on a Mac, download SelfControl. It permanently blocks websites in all browsers for a certain period of time, making it appear pretty nonreversible. I block facebook, twitter, and of course, hacker news. (: - Use a to-do list. Make it consist of a reasonable number of bite-sized tasks. - Take care of yourself - get sleep, eat right, exercise. - Give yourself a time limit so you HAVE to let go. Transfer the perfection from the task itself, to getting the task done efficiently. If you're on a Mac, download Vitamin-R. It forces you to chunk out blocks of time, and explain exactly what you're going to accomplish in the 45 minutes of focus you probably have. Read the Vitamin-R manual, it's actually really helpful. - Study the Pomodoro technique. That's something you can do on Win/offline; Vitamin R makes it dead-easy. - Make a chart for yourself. Mine's big, neon, and plastered on the wall in front of my desk where I'm reminded of it. Every day, give yourself a mark about how focused you were, and whether or not you accomplished everything on your to-do list. This'll help you learn what realistic to-dos are. Good luck, you can do it! (: