Ask HN: How do you create productive habits? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How do you create productive habits?

#101

Post by antoaravinth » Tue, Jul 12, 2016, 3:27 AM UTC

muse900 wrote: post #30

Personally speaking, no apps helped me beat procrastination. What actually helped me a lot is figuring out that I am unhappy and depressed in my life and why is that. Once I figured that out I set for big changes, and stopped caring a lot for things that made me unhappy. I appreciated things I got, I started going on trips around the world and met my wife. After being happy in life I found my self in a very positive…

>> I appreciated things I got . . .

This reminds of me of the book that I read in this year named : "A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy" [1]

Its really a good book and changed my life literally.

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Good-Life-Ancient-Stoic/dp/0195...

Re: Ask HN: How do you create productive habits?

#102

Post by ksikka » Tue, Jul 12, 2016, 4:01 AM UTC

icc97 wrote: post #89

ksikka wrote: post #14

Constrain the time you have to do something. Work often fills the time you give it. If you try to achieve something in a short amount of time, you'll be forced to work at 100% with full focus to get it done ASAP. I'm always amazed at how sometimes a dreadful task takes 10-20 minutes when I'm forced to do it in that timespan, but if I have an hour to do it, it'll take an hour. To make the constraint feel real, put you…

This does seem like a sensible way to invoke the panic monster - but for me it's often undermined by the fact that it's just me that tried to put the artificial deadline there and my brain happily ignores it moving onto the next deadline. There was something similar laid out in this blog [1]. [1]: http://www.raptitude.com/2015/03/how-to-get-yourself-to-do-things/

Thanks for sharing that blog post! I really liked this aspect of it:

"You finish a thing by starting it until it’s done."

I read another blog post whose thesis was "To avoid procrastinating, think about starting instead of finishing". That helped me a lot too. Once you start, work isn't as bad as it seemed.

Re: Ask HN: How do you create productive habits?

#103

Post by ympavan » Tue, Jul 12, 2016, 12:18 PM UTC

Mz wrote: post #23

For me, this typically involves a lot of analysis as to what the obstacles are. There are typically multiple things conspiring to turn me into a slacker and it doesn't generally work to just knuckle down and do it. Figuring out the underlying causes and addressing those is what works for me. So, you might try spending some time asking yourself 'Why?' x, y or z is failing to get done. Be really honest with yourself. D…

Nice advice. Its inspiring.

Re: Ask HN: How do you create productive habits?

#104

Post by avindroth » Thu, Jul 14, 2016, 1:15 AM UTC

snehesht wrote: post #96

avindroth wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried the pomodoro technique multiple times, and it failed. The reason for its failure was the lack of emphasis on setting up the right atmosphere. Now a pomodoro (I use Productivity Planner, made by the guys who made 5 Minute Journal, so I keep track of my pomodoros) doesn't "count" unless I check everything off of the pomodoro prep checklist. 1. Airplane Mode / Turn Cellular Data Off (for urgent calls) 2. Freedom…

I used to do this during exams, suits me perfectly. Another suggestion, If you're working on a side project or studying, try to do it early in the morning ( for me it's 4am ), you'll feel less distracted.

Early morning works well. Most of my effective pomodoros are before 11 am. I start around 6 or 7 am, and get most of the crucial things I want done for the day, done.

I don't even try to work after dinnertime if the work requires a lot of discipline. They never pan out for me. Better to sleep earlier and spend morning hours more effectively.