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> Yet ... I find myself back there. Agreed. There have been entire days where I've found myself distracted from completing otherwise pressing deadlines. What

by zhdc1 4y ago

> Yet ... I find myself back there. Agreed. There have been entire days where I've found myself distracted from completing otherwise pressing deadlines. What I've found is that the activity I do first when I start my 'working day' dictates what I do. So, if I show up at work and open Hacker News or Tweetdeck, there's a not-so-insignificant chance that I'll find myself distracted one way or another for the rest of the day. However, if I stick to a set schedule, there's a good chance that I have a productive day. What worries me is that these distractions build on one another. So, if I start on Hacker News, and stay off of it for the rest of the day, I can still find myself spending a good chunk of time going through unimportant emails or browsing various news feeds.

wutbrodo 4y ago
> So, if I show up at work and open Hacker News or Tweetdeck, there's a not-so-insignificant chance that I'll find myself distracted one way or another for the rest of the day. However, if I stick to a set schedule, there's a good chance that I have a productive day Do you think this is mediated by your mental state, instead of directly causal? I noticed this for myself: I was recently diagnosed with a CFS-like issue and a combination of drugs and identifying food triggers has made a huge difference in my level of mental energy. I still monitor and manage it day-to-day, and I noticed that when my inflammation is up, I am a complete sucker for YouTube videos and mindlessly rescrolling through Twitter. It's been really valuable to be able to reframe the problem as downstream of something more manageable.
- zhdc1 4y ago
  > Do you think this is mediated by your mental state, instead of directly causal? It’s causal. I’ve found that my productivity level is relatively constant when I maintain a routine. The quality of my work may change depending on other factors, but I still make meaningful progress. However, if I break my routine by checking social media early on in the day, there’s a good chance that my productivity will subsequently go down. I haven’t found anything to suggest that I am more or less likely to do this when I am, for instance, not feeling well. One caveat. I don’t have to deal with anything you have to deal with, so I can’t make an apples to apples comparison.
  - wutbrodo 4y ago
    > One caveat. I don’t have to deal with anything you have to deal with, so I can’t make an apples to apples comparison. Sure of course, I'm quite clear on what was going on in my case, but I was wondering how broad the dynamic might be. Thanks for your thoughts!

by zhdc1 4y ago

wutbrodo 4y ago

> So, if I show up at work and open Hacker News or Tweetdeck, there's a not-so-insignificant chance that I'll find myself distracted one way or another for the rest of the day. However, if I stick to a set schedule, there's a good chance that I have a productive day Do you think this is mediated by your mental state, instead of directly causal? I noticed this for myself: I was recently diagnosed with a CFS-like issue and a combination of drugs and identifying food triggers has made a huge difference in my level of mental energy. I still monitor and manage it day-to-day, and I noticed that when my inflammation is up, I am a complete sucker for YouTube videos and mindlessly rescrolling through Twitter. It's been really valuable to be able to reframe the problem as downstream of something more manageable.

zhdc1 4y ago
> Do you think this is mediated by your mental state, instead of directly causal? It’s causal. I’ve found that my productivity level is relatively constant when I maintain a routine. The quality of my work may change depending on other factors, but I still make meaningful progress. However, if I break my routine by checking social media early on in the day, there’s a good chance that my productivity will subsequently go down. I haven’t found anything to suggest that I am more or less likely to do this when I am, for instance, not feeling well. One caveat. I don’t have to deal with anything you have to deal with, so I can’t make an apples to apples comparison.
- wutbrodo 4y ago
  > One caveat. I don’t have to deal with anything you have to deal with, so I can’t make an apples to apples comparison. Sure of course, I'm quite clear on what was going on in my case, but I was wondering how broad the dynamic might be. Thanks for your thoughts!