Now and then I like to revert back to first principles. The moment things become refined, elegant, or complex, is usually when I have to see the woods from the trees and apply first principles to it.

One principle I live by is minimalism. With technology it's easy for things to become rapidly complex. It's worth applying mindfulness to technology and seeing the results. Most of my solutions are easy solutions with no cruft, instead of complex solutions with bells and whistles galore.

Another principle I try to apply is doing one thing at a time, which ties into minimalism. It's so easy to fall into the trap of distractions and multitasking. I've trained myself over the years to cull distractions, and segmented my workflow into discrete single duty units of work. If I'm on Skype, then I'm on Skype, & I'm not checking my email or Twitter too. If I'm on Hackernews, then I'm just on Hackernews, and not lurking in Reddit too, etc. It seems obvious, but focusing actually requires training.

Virtualization has helped with this, and it's not uncommon seeing me spinning up a new VM for the sole purpose of video conferencing, and having an entire operating system just for Twitter, etc