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Comment by drieddust | Hacker News Reader

> There's always bits of time to work on your task list on your phone or flesh out a bit of meta-code in your to-do list, and now I'm able to do the brunt of the "thinking" work in the shower or

I want to move to this model of working but nothing seems to stick. Do you follow any specific routines or use tools to manage yourself?

I have tried a lot of tools but nothing sticks.

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I did this, what worked for me was leaving myself a note of where I left off and exactly what to do next at the top of my task list; "validate input x on form y" for example. Just a simple 'trick' that really worked, for me at least.

Going to try this

In code, I think a good trick is to leave a lexical error in your current file.

I use the same model now that I have a child-- you can't optimize or think too hard about it, you just need to do it. Doesn't matter what tools or methods you use. Could use a phone todo, a sheet of paper in your pocket, whatever.

Things I frequently do randomly during the day:

1. iMessage myself a note or todo so I won't forget 2. email myself a note or todo item, especially if there's an image or link etc. 3. write a quick note in the iPhone notes app

To some extent, I think it comes from necessity.

As a father of two, I can confirm this is the case.

If I get the opportunity now to even open my laptop I know I'm on borrowed time. As a result, most of my thinking is done on my commute, and I find that just being aware of that really does make me focus in a way I never could before.

Incidentally, I find now that I'm much less likely to fall into the trap of starting things that will never be finished because I'm forced to put off getting hand to keyboard. It's like I'm pitching ideas to myself, and I'm my own harshest critic.

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