My personal warning sign that I'm off track is whenever I feel the urge to research a new to-do list tool.
I wonder if there is some kind of all-encompassing solution (software-based or whatever) that actually manages to conduct you into a so-called "flow state" in some way. I've tried automating things like blocking websites, turning the computer off at certain times and so on, but it always either feels too constraining (which just makes me disable everything after some time) or too "manual" (which I never have the discipline to maintain). And ultimately, it doesn't really make me want to do the task any more than I would otherwise.
Anything else just goes into hundreds of notes in Apple Notes that I review every week. (After having tried every app under the sun, I've come to the conclusion that I'm a sucker for native integration).
I'm not being facetious, the bottleneck to individual human productivity is usually the human. Over-planning and focusing on tangential problems are frequently just rationalizing away procrastination... "maybe this mountain of work will take less effort with a better organization system" - probably not.
These days I prefer using org-mode for notes, MoSCoW for triaging, and Omnifocus for execution. It took months to become proficient, but now getting in the zone is effortless.
The term MoSCoW itself is an acronym derived from the first letter of each of four prioritization categories (Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won't have), with the interstitial Os added to make the word pronounceable. While the Os are usually in lower-case to indicate that they do not stand for anything, the all-capitals MOSCOW is also used." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MoSCoW_method
If I execute without a prioritized list, I tend to focus on the fun/easy "could" and "won't" tasks. Creating a MoSCoW list for myself keeps me honest and acts as a forcing function for discipline.
This too, is my realization, after a lot of introspection (and observing other people).
Sadly, I never learned discipline. Given the anxiety issues I'm struggling with since late-teen/early-adulthood, I can see that my average performance is about 10% of my peak performance.
I hear discipline is trainable, but I wasn't able to find something I could execute as an adult. I wish there was a training regimen with benefits that transfer to the rest of one's life (and not just making someone better at executing the training tasks).
In exercise people often think the harder you work the stronger you'll get. But actually eating, eating at the right times, and resting are just as important.
Start by calibrating yourself. Where do you already have discipline? Going to work every day at the same time? Paying bills as soon as they arrive? Or maybe something harder, like cooking healthy meals every other day, going to the gym, or practicing an instrument?
Understand your level, then find something just a little harder. Ideally, it should be a recurring task which you recognize requires discipline (ie something you want to have done, but don't look forward to doing). Find that task, then do it. Keep doing it until you can effortlessly climb over that mental barrier. Then, continue doing it while challenging yourself with something harder.
As someone with ADD, it took a long time for me to become disciplined. I started out by going to the gym every other day, eventually working up to climbing mountains, learning instruments, and becoming one of the most organized people at work (while still being ADD).
It's not easy. Of course not, discipline is the skill of doing hard things despite the difficulty. But if you're looking for "a training regimen with benefits that transfer to the rest of one's life" - this is it. Discipline is a higher-order skill that transfers to learning or doing everything else.
Isn't that a bit like saying eating less is the solution to weight loss. It's true of course but completely useless advice for the majority of people who struggle with lack of discipline.
I find it helpful to decide what order to do everything ahead of time, because then in the moment when I don't know what to do, I just look at the chart and get a clear answer.
The graphing process also helps me evaluate my to-dos more rationally instead of going off of vague feelings. Often I find that a task that feels really difficult actually won't take very much time. That helps me buckle down and do it, since I know I can get it over with quickly.
Making the graph also helps me let go of things that aren't actually important or urgent. I can put them at the tail end of my path and not worry about whether I'm able to get to them or not. It helps me stay disciplined and not fill up my time with them just because they feel easier than the important stuff.
Speaking of work, I should probably get off HN now :)