I use org-mode a lot as well; I keep a "life.org" file that includes among other things a section called "heap" where I keep my general to-do list of discrete c

I use org-mode a lot as well; I keep a "life.org" file that includes among other things a section called "heap" where I keep my general to-do list of discrete chores (e.g. "buy toilet paper", "email Joe about the foobar", "move pictures from my phone to my PC"), a section called "leads" where I put ideas worth looking into (e.g. "learn to use awk", project ideas), and a section called "dally planning" where I make a subsection each morning containing whatever things I plan on doing that day. All of this could be managed with a normal txt file as well, you don't need to adopt org-mode (though it's a joy to use). I also do ~20 minutes of meditation each morning which is extremely helpful. Also very helpful are getting regular exercise - even just walking around for half an hour each day helps a lot if you're mostly sedentary - and taking frequent breaks. Start slow! Phase productivity hacks in piecemeal over a long period of time. Start projects early and slowly and exploratory. Slow and steady wins the race.