Ask HN: What's your routine/ways to keep being productive day by day? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What's your routine/ways to keep being productive day by day?

85 pointsaryamaan41 comments

Interested in initiating a discussion about what worked for you to keep your productivity up. What'd you learn about yourself working for so far and what'd you think most of us are doing wrong?

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Here's what I try to do... work as little as possible while still getting stuff done, deeply think about things before doing any work, manage energy (exercise helps), use persuasion where its possible to avoid work (others call it sales), and select the activities that you do ruthlessly (selection being the most powerful tool).

Pomodoro, not-to-do lists, tracking software, etc all fail because they put emphasis on the wrong things. In those worlds input and output have direct relationships. But IMO you can get more done, by convincing someone not to do their bad idea, that's going to suck up a ton of time and force you to not work on things that could create higher impact. "There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all"

Another thing I've fallen in love with lately, is finding ways to use as little code as possible (this has actually lead to a passion for Machine Learning). Code, loved by all around here, causes myself and others to reframe our problem solving around it. Sometimes this is a good thing, other times its a bad thing. In theory code just automates things so you can set it and forget it... in practice, every line of code is under your

Also, consider viewing your productivity in the context of energy levels. Pretend that you are training for a marathon or something physical. Do those people train all the time as hard as they can? hell no. They work their way towards goals, using patterns that shape their bodies (and minds) towards the goals. Start with a 5K, then do a 10K... all the way up to an ultra marathon. If you get injured or burnt out, do the things that you need to do to heal properly... don't just start running again.

If you work for a company, prioritize whats good for the company over what your boss wants. If your boss is doing their job well the two should be in sync.

there's more... but I have to go get some stuff done :)

> If you work for a company, prioritize whats good for the company over what your boss wants.

This sounds like some seriously bad advice. Your boss is the one deciding your fate within the company. Ignoring his goals is career suicide. The one exception I see are maybe some megacorps, where (at least in theory) your career progression is not up to your immediate manager.

And my follow up is... why is your boss not doing whats best for the company?

AND ...your career progress is NOT up to your immediate boss. That person is a blip on the radar over the course of 30-50 years working, particularly if they aren't worried about things bigger than themselves.

Companies are made up of many people and provided the company is working on something worth working on, your alignment towards that end will be noticed by all of the other people.

My boss is, most of the time, doing what’s best for his career. That might be alligned with company’s best interest, but that’s not what he focuses on.

> consider viewing your productivity in the context of energy levels.

I just started shifting over to doing this. I found I was expending way too much energy on overhead and indecision when assigned or having taken on too much. Combined with your other points, I'd like to both +1 and express my thanks for explicitly pointing out what I've taken to seeing as the next stage of self management.

thanks!

This is the response I'd have written if not for the movement thing.

sorry ... just saw like a billion grammar and spelling errors! urg

I've found that the main factor that determines my productivity (for everything: day job, studying for classes outside of work, doing chores, etc) is sleep the past few nights before. Caffeine can sometimes bridge a small sleep deficit gap, but I've found that it's a bad long-term solution to not getting enough sleep.

After sleep, the order is roughly exercise, moderating my caffeine intake, and taking breaks. I've found that it can be hard for me to remember to take breaks, and I find that with them, I don't get as exhausted as when I try to power through nonstop. Pomodoro timing (I use a free Chrome extension called Marinara) is especially helpful for that.

On the topic of sleep, I found Matthew Walker's "Why We Sleep" to be a really good read. I've spent about a month actively working on my sleep hygiene and I've seen a noticeable improvement in my productivity.

How applicable is Why We Sleep to someone who lives with a partner who keeps slightly different hours? Not opposed, but they're generally still up when I've fallen asleep...

Why We Sleep isn't really a "10 tricks to sleep" book, it's a book explaining the state of sleep research in 2018.

I found the research survey (less sleep => more cancer, more Alzheimer's, worse emotional states; more sleep => dreams for self-therapy, better health outcomes, better memory; your night/day inclination is immutable like your eye color) more effective at motivating me to improve my sleep habits.

What about your differing sleep schedules causes problems? My wife is an early bird and I am a (relative) night owl.

No problems really. Just aware that like many inputs in health, it can almost always be better!

This is right for me, sleeping enough, eating right, and exercise make everything else fall into place smoothly. There is no secret to it, just make sure those three things are taken care of and you will have the energy and attitude to get stuff done.

Any similar extensions for Firefox?

I use Workrave (workrave.org) on Windows and Linux. It forces breaks in adjustable intervals. A lot of alternative tools exist for all platforms (https://alternativeto.net/software/workrave/)

I've read a few books on the topic recently, here's what works for me (some followed by resources):

- going sleep early-ish (before 11 PM)

- at least 7 hours of sleep

- swimming before work

- cutting down on meat

- less worry (stoicism) - "Happy", Derren Brown

- writing down a master to-do list of literally everything (it litters your head, really) - "Getting Things Done", David Allen

- saying "no" to things you're not certain about

- staying out of internet (internet-less Pomodoros) - "Deep Work", Cal Newport

- listening to noise instead of music while working - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXtimhT-ff4

But honestly, first 3 bullets are the most important ones; if done, I'm super concentrated the whole day (strangely enough, these 3 are basic stuff, you probably already know that from your mama).

well thats basically people routines...

Sure. For me, it's crazy that "how to be a good developer" mostly comes down to "how to be a healthy man"

Gym, everyday, at 7:00 a.m. The benefits of working out help me stay calm and focused throughout the day, and the everyday routine gives me something to do every morning while still on autopilot.

Gym 7:00 a.m. doesn't work for me. That would be the best time from schedule perspective, but I simply can't. I'm talking about gym training with heavy free weights, not fitness club with stationary bicycles.

Morning exercise is fantastic. I definitely find myself more alert and productive on days when I wake up earlier to go for a run or gym.

Writing down what you need to work on the next day in a list has been very helpful for me.

I usually pair this with Pomodoro technique if the items are programming related.

If they are management related, I usually use some form of GTD to ensure that I am on top of things.

My first exposure to Pomodoro was this thread so I looked it up.

>There are six steps in the original technique:

>Decide on the task to be done.

>Set the pomodoro timer (traditionally to 25 minutes).

>Work on the task.

>End work when the timer rings and put a checkmark on a piece of paper.

>If you have fewer than four checkmarks, take a short break (3–5 minutes), then go to step 2.

>After four pomodoros, take a longer break (15–30 minutes), reset your checkmark count to zero, then go to step 1.

I can't believe anyone would religiously do this, it seems like something designed by de Sade.

I've done this in the past and it does work. There are a few additional details that this description is missing - like what to do when an "interrupt/interruption" arrives (you just note it down and deal with it later).

It really helps but I thought it was very intense and eventually I questioned why I was working with that intensity for someone else. It's not that I was slacking off prior to that. I was performing well but wasn't heading towards burning out and this would have led to a burnout.

I've never heard of the checkmarks and I doubt many people do it this way. I think it's just about making you focus on the work for a shorter, more manageable timespan.

If you use an app on the phone it handles all the steps.

The main benefit of Pomodoro is focus and it helps you overcome procrastination

This works for me too. And trying to devote entire days to programming mode vs management mode instead of switching contexts within the day helps too.

Though it’s vanishingly rare to be able to split them entirely, you can block off days with no meetings when your only interruptions will be people needing info or help. Then you can take care of administrative management tasks between meetings on meeting days.

Quick trick: every hour that you spend in front of a computer make sure to send out one email. If you're a writer, send a blog post to someone to edit or publish it. If you're a entrepreneur, send out a sales inquiry. If you're a engineer, send out a message to someone you want to collab with.

Have the outside world be your forcing function for productivity. If you send out one cold email 20% might lead to a good exchange, 5% to something that goes forward. But that's still an opportunity every three days.

For writers and engineers increased productivity will come from the exact opposite advice - allocate some time for email and isolate yourself as much as you can for the rest of the day.

I agree that you shouldn't be constantly reacting to incoming email, but what about your own outreach? Same caution?

Write a blog post every hour? Really?

Every hour you're at the computer, click "publish" or reach out to push your piece, or email someone to ask to guest post. Any outward action that has you reach out in some way.

Movement.

I'm lucky in that I have a university campus to range around on, so this probably isn't an option for everyone, but I find that changing locations every two hours or so helps keep me on track, be it for homework or client work.

Sleep, hard exercise, goals following (a variant of) the rule of threes. Keep perspective.

I try to sleep from 9pm to 5am with minor alterations.

I lift heavy things. Some lighter things faster. Follow a program. I like bergeron.

Rule of threes. Have three goals for the day. More often than not, break those into three milestones throughout given time periods. It tends to line up similarly as an pomodoro for me.

Keeping perspective. Understanding how what I'm working on helps my personal development goals, my manager's development and business goals, and how it helps the business. Understanding that I have to balance all that with family time and experiencing life (which, aside from the boss part, everything above helps with).

I found that routines have limited effect on my productivity. Some hacks can be useful (pomodoro for example) but only get me so far.

What really matters is to have a clear understanding of the benefits of what I'm doing. If I know exactly why I have to do something and I am confident about the benefits of finishing it, I have zero productivity problems and don't need any kind of process or routine, it all becomes apparent.

This is usually the case when I have a clear goal and concrete plan how to get there.

If you are like me, my advice is to become as clear as possible about your goals and be as confident as possible about the path that gets you there.

In other words, the "why" is much more important to productivity than the "how"

Fair warning: I often struggle with productivity and I definitely can't say that I've got it nailed. That said, for this same reason I think about it quite a bit, and I'll use this occassion to articulate some of those thoughts and relevant experiences.

Things that I emphasize concerning productivity fall under prioritization and modeling.

I mean priority in the most general sense. There's a hundred things that ideally would all be done or experienced, but you only have so much capacity. To deal with that, you have to know what's most important to you. By saying "to you", I'm highlighting that motivations are individual-specific. Sometimes you have to work quite hard to find out what animates you.

That's the consciousness aspect of it: seeing the situation and options clearly. The focus part of it is being sufficiently resilient to distractions, without falling into tunnel vision, i.e. balancing between focus and awereness.

[Notice: this paragraph is hearsay; should be treated as unverified] I don't usually advertise medication, but under certain circumstances self-medicating with microdoses of lsd has dramatic effects. My impression is that it's very effective treating anxiety induced productivity problems, but it also has other noteworthy effects on creativity and focus in general that are more difficult to articulate (for me, at least).

What I mean by modeling may be clarified with the metaphor of zooming. It's about switching between being focused on small scale details and large scale features. Related methods range from formal to informal. Mathematical modeling is a formal instance of this. Computer-assisted proofs or executable specifications are even more formal examples. Noting down what you care about, what affects that, and what in turn affects that and so on is on the informal side of the spectrum. It's about moving from one level of abstraction/detail to another, when appropriate and in the direction (zoom in or zoom out) that's appropriate. Bret Victor wrote about that [0]. He called it the Ladder of Abstraction.

Modeling (or zoom as I called it) has a large effect on my productivity. The prospect of dedicating time to thinking about a problem is not satisfying if you're anxious about getting results fast, but it's very effective in the long run.

[0] http://worrydream.com/LadderOfAbstraction/

A good sleep schedule and a loose approach of time blocking. https://medium.com/@naveenraja/a-guide-to-time-blocking-how-...

The Best Self Journal is a great tool for setting and achieving goals. Check it here: https://bestself.co/

I doubt mine will be much different than others, but: 7-8 hours of sleep every night, and exercise three times a week (specifically: an hour of strength training during each session).

For work I do mostly project / product management

(1) Summarize everything important yesterday. Personal and work.

(2) Check my email 3-4xs a day, once in morning, once later on, fire off emails if it can be done in <5 minutes following GTD from david allen.

(3) Have junk mail, automatically go to junk. Important emails, go to important folders. Less important things / things that don't fit anywhere, general inbox.

(4) Respond to important things that have higher priority

(5) Throughout day, checkup on other projects in pipeline to see who needs to be reminded of what to do (less urgent)

(6) Document, document, document. For things I need to automate processes. Keep paper trails everywhere, so people are held accountable, including myself. For things that are more complicated / may hurt me if I leave a paper trail b/c of complex lose-lose situations, use a phone call instead.

(7) Delegate, delegate, delegate. Keep low expectations of everyone else until they prove otherwise. Objective is to not touch anything technical, everything needs to be agnostic and scalable and being able to passed down to another person. Try out new freelancers every so often for small mini-jobs so I build network of programmers / designers I can rely on for different tasks.

(8) Scale, scale, scale. Don't bother with unscalable things. Go all in or not at all. The end goal is you don't have to do anything

(9) Explore, explore, explore. Constantly try out new methods and tools, via alternativeto.net or producthunt. Chrome extensions. Git repos

(10) Aggregate, aggregate, aggregate. I have standard operating procedures for how I aggregate ideas, notes, git repos. Make the internet your own, google is just a search engine with all my littered notes everywhere

(11) analyze, analyze, analyze. Check through how often I am repeating myself. Check my progress from daily notes made every week. See if I am going under a prolonged sprint with no results. Fire people when necessary if they are underperforming. Deliver bad news fast and get it over with. Set clear goal-lines and deliverables. Automate consistently, mini changes at a time

(12) Learn, learn, learn. When dealing other people smarter than you, be humble and keep an open mind. Do not say more than necessary else you skew opinions towards your own. For instance, if you outsource a task, simply explain the problem not the idealistic solution in mind.

(13) Invest, invest, invest. Not just time and skills. Constantly look into new tools to automate processes. New printers. New monitors. New mechanical keyboards. Better PC's. Standing desks. Better machinery for manufacturing. New software for pipeline processes.

(14) Put a website blocker on my computer for hackernews / social sites so I don't go on them longer than I have too

(15) Write down things I have to do tomorrow

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For personal hobby projects / personal life

(1) Waking up at 6 AM every morning to workout

(2) Occasionally blogging and/or doing technical presentations at meetups (sets a clear objective)

(3) Learning to delete. Deleting bad code routinely, deleting terrible writing, deleting bad habits, putting your best foot forward wherever you are. Strictly avoiding repetitive code when possible, this forces me to employ design patterns.

(4) Not wasting time on pomodoro / productivity hacks, - discipline, patience, and work ethic

(5) Putting pleasant music on right when I get home. I use this at the moment, https://www.youtube.com/freecodecamp/live. Makes me productive right away, so I don't play video games much anymore (this is assuming I don't have other commitments to make that night with meetups / friends)

(6) When I get stuck on a problem, post it 3xs in 3 different locations (my city's dev channel, stackoverflow, reddit). I don't have hand-holding when it comes to development unfortunately, learned everything the hard way.

(7) Segregating different times of days for different things. Morning time is dedicated for coursework / tutorials. Evening is for hobby projects / music.

(8) Setting a bedtime alarm warning at 9 PM. I go to sleep at 10 PM, so I need to wind down for an hour

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