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What this boils down to for me is being able to stay in flow for (at least) a couple of hours a day. I've found that task-management-anxiety dropped once I had
by liampulles 3y ago
What this boils down to for me is being able to stay in flow for (at least) a couple of hours a day. I've found that task-management-anxiety dropped once I had good flow.
My flow recipe is as follows:
* A comfortable environment, i.e.: a comfortable, pleasant, quiet place (can use noise cancelling headphones).
* I mark on Slack that I am in deep work for an hour, set an alarm on my phone, and then close all communication tabs (slack, email, etc.)
* I've found Youtube Music's "Focus" section to be pretty good for focus music, but I have a couple go-to albums and playlists I can use also.
* I rigourously plan out my work before I get into it, and I also re-plan a bit as I get going. I don't want my brain to have to keep track of what I need to do and to the greatest degree reasonable I don't want to think about how to do XYZ. I wrote a bit about this: https://liampulles.com/blog/jira-tickets https://liampulles.com/blog/jira-tickets
* I try not to keep snacks in my apartment. Again this is in service of not allowing there to be an avenue for the brain to shift to. I've settled on Almonds.
* Being able to put work out of mind at the end of the day is important. For me, running helps relieve tension - but there are other ways.
- Mavvie 3y agoI strongly agree with this. I would add that, at least for me, planning each day out is beneficial as well. When I don't have a plan for a day, I often will sit there, not really doing anything, and not sure what to start doing. This typically ends when I get distracted by something (maybe a question on Slack), and overall leads to some very unproductive days. Even a simple high-level plan, like "today I want to get these tickets ready for review and work on this RFC", is incredibly helpful for me. A weekly plan may be even more effective, but I struggle to plan that far in advance.
- numbers 3y agoPlanning work has made me way more productive. In years past, I would just start cranking on something and midway through the work, I'd realize I didn't understand or properly plan the work. Now, I ask a lot more questions (even if it's just me doing the work and planning) and then start work when most of the questions are answered.
- cushpush 3y agoSnacklessness is masochism tho
- funcDropShadow 3y agoI couldn't agree more with your flow recipe. What pomodoro provides that your recipe doesn't provide or perhaps it does for you, is the following: * Remind me to drink water * Remind me to move, i.e. stand up, walk a few meter, stretch my arms, etc * Remind me to question myself, whether I dug myself into a rabbit hole or whether I am distracted