I've found that if I listen to podcasts, I tend to flit around between coding, HN, facebook, flickr, etc. If I listen to music, I can stay focused for hours. So

I've found that if I listen to podcasts, I tend to flit around between coding, HN, facebook, flickr, etc. If I listen to music, I can stay focused for hours. So my recent hack was to create an rdio station combining the Tron soundtrack, it's remix, and (oddly) upbeat Lady Gaga tracks. I happened to get that mix by accident a few weeks ago at a coffee shop and was startled at how much time passed, and how much I got done. I think the more general point is to identify the mental triggers that put you into a zone, and work on refining ways to put you there on demand.