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Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

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Re: Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

#51

Post by SyneRyder »

flashfabrixx wrote: post #23
awjr wrote: post #14

Been working from home from the end of 1999 on and off up until the middle of 2012. 1) This http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGg1567fzTY (almost posted anonymously). Deal with it :) 2) If you have a family or a partner. Just because you are at home does not mean "can you just put on a wash". Build rules into engaging with the family. You are working. You are not to be disturbed. If you choose to 'come out' of your offi…

18) Figure out when you're most productive during the day. Morning person? Evening person? Put small and easy tasks in the non-productive time of the day (or break out, see point 4) and get the big ones in your best time of the day.

And if you're not sure of when you're most productive, there's a Mac app called Vitamin-R that (aside from including a timeboxing/pomodoro-esque timer) includes a stats tool to track the hours and days of the week when you're most focused. Vitamin-R website is http://www.publicspace.net/Vitamin-R/‎

Re: Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

#52

Post by SkyMarshal »

>and then sometime I find myself I haven't looked at that project in the last two days as I spent it by browsing random projects on the internet, working on other things, watching multiple seasons of sitcoms or just brainstorming about product ideas that I can build in future!

Start by cutting out the truly wasteful things, like watching TV. Throw your TV in the trash (seriously), or first thing every morning get out of the house and go work in a library or coffee shop for five hours or so.

The other things you mention are part of the creative process - browsing other projects on github or wherever for ideas, brainstorming, working on other projects (eg decluttering your todo list).

If you break your main project down into component parts and estimate it, that will give you some baseline/benchmark as to the rate of progress you should be making on it. Assume a 9-5 workday and no more than 5hrs of actual work on the project per day. If you're roughly keeping up with that by working odd irregular hours (16hr sprints, 2 days off, etc), then you're in good shape. Otherwise it will give you an idea of how much more you need to reallocate to your main project.

Re: Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

#53

Post by ljlolel »

umrashrf wrote: post #45
niyazpk wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"This video is not available." :(

At first this video did not work for me too but now after a while visited again and it worked.

try this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co_DNpTMKXk

Re: Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

#54

Post by ghaff »

EvanMiller wrote: post #33

I have to challenge the premise that most of the responders have taken, which is that working on a daily schedule is "better". On the contrary, I find that my work habits are a lot like yours -- and I think that's a good thing! Sometimes I will be possessed by a coding demon and crank out work for days (weeks?) on end. Other times I will putter around watching TV or brainstorming ideas. For me the whole point of bein…

I sorta keep a daily schedule but I'm not rigid about it; some days are certainly more about focusing on tasks than others. For me, it's at least as important to keep a short-term and mid-term todo list.

Re: Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

#55

Post by yojo »

In my experience the times where I find I've done something that "feels" productive but isn't (e.g. browsing projects on the internet, working on other things) are times where I feel stuck on my main task. This could be due to lack of clarity, or because there is a step that is boring/uninteresting/tedious.

The best advice I can give is that when you find yourself unwilling to do the work, break the work down into concrete, bite-sized steps. Then do the first one, then do the next one, and you'll get it done. If you can't do one of the steps because you're blocked, figure out the steps to get unblocked, write those down, and do the first one.

The other thing I've found that helps is to set a clear schedule. The rhythm of the office helps get things done. I still wake up to an alarm at 8, I have a coffee at 10 and 2, and lunch is at noon. My wife comes home around 6, and I try to make sure I'm done at 6:30. I occasionally break all of these rules if I'm in the zone and really getting a lot done. If that happens, I give myself more time off later/the next day to ensure I'm always on a sustainable pace.

If you're already stuck in a distraction quagmire, try to recognize it, and set an alarm for 30 minutes. When the alarm goes off, go back to work. If you still can't work, go take a walk and try again.

Re: Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

#56

Post by mindctrl-org »

awjr wrote: post #14

Been working from home from the end of 1999 on and off up until the middle of 2012. 1) This http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGg1567fzTY (almost posted anonymously). Deal with it :) 2) If you have a family or a partner. Just because you are at home does not mean "can you just put on a wash". Build rules into engaging with the family. You are working. You are not to be disturbed. If you choose to 'come out' of your offi…

Great advice. Thanks for the detailed response.

Re: Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

#57

Post by jakobe »

graeme wrote: post #38
jakobe wrote: post #26

One thing to note is that being self-employed doesn't mean you need to work from home. I always had trouble staying focused at home, and since I have kids working from home is almost impossible for me. I now rent a desk in a shared office, and I work regular hours. I work 9-4 four days a week. I leave my laptop at work, so I can't do anything except answer the occasional email from home (when the kids let me). It mak…

>I leave my laptop at work, so I can't do anything except answer the occasional email from home (when the kids let me). I never thought of that. I am strongly considering a coworking space just to try this. My only issue is that I sometimes do Skype consulting in the evenings, after my clients are done work (I'm a tutor). I would have to schedule those in blocks and have my laptop home for those blocks only. What's s…

Someone I work with was abroad for a few months, so I also had to skype about once a week in the evening. I brought the laptop home on those days.

Concerning security, all my hard drives (internal & external) are encrypted, and my laptop is secured with a kensington lock. Those locks don't offer much protection, but I know everyone who has keys to the office, these are more or less just precautions to deter casual thieves if someone forgets to lock the office doors at night. My laptop is pretty old, and most of my work is stored in online repositories. It would be annoying if someone stole my stuff, but it wouldn't be the end of the world...

Re: Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

#58

Post by fit2rule »

Its almost impossible to have self-discipline if there is nobody else around to observe it. The #1 thing that I have found useful, when I've been a self-employed worker, has been to have someone else around to talk to about my progress, or lack thereof, over time.

For many, this can be as simple as having a partner who looks out for you and checks in on you, making sure that you're not playing games or whatever distractions tickle your fancy. It could be having a close friend or associate who knows you are a self-worker and who takes a regular interest in your life and actions.

Without another human being around, its very difficult to be self-disciplined. This is just one of those quandries of life - things get a lot easier when you've got someone, anyone, impartial or otherwise, with whom to discuss your daily progress.

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