A collection of some old methods, revisited. After looking back and trying to figure out what separates one [productive] day from the next [unproductive day], here are some commonalities I've noticed.
1) I have a little switch on my laptop that turns WiFi on. When I need to focus, I just turn it off. I only allow myself to turn it on if it's a development-related thing I need to do.<p>2) I use my down time (subway, boring classes, etc.) to work out what I need to do next. I start with a high-level todo of features then iteratively break them down to smaller pieces, usually going as detailed as function signatures and database table design. Not only does it make it easier to get work done once I get to the computer, but putting the design of a feature in the back of my mind for a few hours will usually bring out the design flaws before I write a single line of code. (My red pocket Moleskine works great.)<p>3) If I haven't done the feature design ahead of time, when I start a new complex method, I write the method as English comments, one step per line. After that, I write the implementation of each comment in code.
excellent read, I agree with pretty much all of it.<p>my tip for not being side tracked is...<p>make your home page on your development machine blank.<p>Being a webdeveloper I found everytime I open my browser with igoogle I would get sidetracked by some story.<p>I have also taken to getting up earlier and reading all I can first thing and then just getting on with it.
I agree with the guy, but my problem lays not in not knowing how to be more productive. The real issue is to get to actually follow those tips.<p>Every now and then I see myself buried in work and having to work 24x7. When I get like that, after solving the most imediate problem, I kinda reboot to the point where I actually follow good guidelines for productivity. After a few months, though, I get all burried on work again. My goal is to make this cycle so big that I progressively need less reboots. But it's hard to keep on track all the time with such a distractive and beatiful world around.