Know those guidelines for being productive that consist of “only” 20 or more rules? Keeping to-do lists, keeping anti-to-do lists, writing journals, reflecting on your day, the 50/10 rule etc. pp. …
Forget about them! Here is what I did to finish two CHI papers in the course of one weekend:
- Get rid of distractions: I put my phone in a different room and had only one browser window with one tab open, which was ShareLaTeX. Nothing else!
- Hide all clocks: I banned all clocks from my office space and worked in full-screen mode so that the clock in Windows’s task bar was hidden as well. I did this because if I’m aware of how long I’ve already been working, I’m more tempted to take a break—even if I don’t need one (“Phew, you’ve already been working for over an hour! Man, you deserve a decent break! Oh, it’s the Simpsons on TV.” Aaaand one hour gone). Without any clocks it’s more like: “WHAT? I’ve been working for four hours straight now?! Damn it, I missed the Simpsons!”
- Get your shit done!
Try it! It works!
Disclaimer: This absolutely works for me. No guarantee that it works for you, but might be worth a try.
P.S.: If you’re not good at working in silence, try Coffitivity, but that one’s optional.
2008 – Tales of Design & User Experience 