I tried maybe times. Every system I put into place quickly bores me to death, it kills my creativity and my brain then tries really hard to escape from it. Anyone else in that situation?<p>The only trick that really stuck to me is to write down on a piece of paper where I'm at during a context switch. That really helps to pick it up again faster afterwards.
I find this incredibly useful. I work on a relatively small tech team as a lead/project manager/manager and every so often I get very busy where I only have 1-2 hours a day to do my dev work. I've also seen other devs and sysadmins collapse under a work load where they were in meetings all day every day. It can be very tough to get a schedule set where you're able to work on your top priorities, so I value these stories and techniques.
The responders seemed to be hard core type A. That said, I found that it's really useful to avoid context switching. Typically I pack calls in on Friday afternoon and have meetings at the end of the day. Sales calls can be exhausting so it's better to get work out if the way first. And avoid context switching as much as possible (more time blocks).
I have zero techniques or schedules or habits for productivity. After reading this a part of me wonders if I should....but another part of me thinks that most people don't, and its only type A people who could respond to that question with anything other than "go with the flow".
I was hoping this was a course on time management. Stories are useful but do little to reinforce the behaviors necessary to develop good time management skills.
What's most impressive for me in the first answer (that perhaps might not get noticed by everyone) is the self-awareness of when one's most productive times are. I think knowing this can really help anyone get more done because you can re-schedule your day to suit when you're best at doing creative/routine/mind-intensive tasks most effectively and efficiently.
Those first two sound like pompous self important over achievers in the worst way. The other two sound very straightforward and down to earth. I'm guessing the latter are the ones that do the work and the former are managers.