There is a technique which I did not find in the above lists, but found most useful for myself (I’d give it a strong +7).
I will call it Leave some tasty bits for next morning meaning that at the end of the working day I leave some task very well prepared which I am excited about to start to work the next day, something which is:
easy to start with (finished with bulk of the tedious details)
gives instant gratification
a good start to get into less pleasant tasks
The idea is that it is in general hard to get into the “work mode”, but once one gets the right momentum it is much easier to continue. So often I found that it is better not to finish some easy but exciting stuff at the end of the day, but leave it for next morning in the hope of setting up my whole day.
The wrong tactic is to do the tasty bits first and leave the tedious details to start the next day with. That way, it is sure that I will spend the whole morning doing something unproductive instead.
There is a technique which I did not find in the above lists, but found most useful for myself (I’d give it a strong +7).
I will call it Leave some tasty bits for next morning meaning that at the end of the working day I leave some task very well prepared which I am excited about to start to work the next day, something which is:
easy to start with (finished with bulk of the tedious details)
gives instant gratification
a good start to get into less pleasant tasks
The idea is that it is in general hard to get into the “work mode”, but once one gets the right momentum it is much easier to continue. So often I found that it is better not to finish some easy but exciting stuff at the end of the day, but leave it for next morning in the hope of setting up my whole day.
The wrong tactic is to do the tasty bits first and leave the tedious details to start the next day with. That way, it is sure that I will spend the whole morning doing something unproductive instead.
Ah yes, a similar tactic was mentioned in the “share your tricks” thread: if writing, end each session in the middle of a sentence.