Ask HN: What are your productivity hacks? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What are your productivity hacks?

72 pointszaqfu60 comments

In an age of constantly updating Twitter feeds and email threads, how do you stay productive and on-task?

Recommend any literature on the topic?

I am not interested in maximizing Productivity.

Productivity = Output / Input

(Efficiency == Productivity)

So all I have to do to be more productive is to reduce Input. This is easy. Just write a code generator. I can write 100,000 lines of code in one day. Incredibly productive. Not very effective.

But then again, I'm not interested in maximizing Effectiveness either.

Effectiveness = Output / Expectations

So all I have to do to be more Effective is to reduce Expectations. "This will never work." "It worked!" Infinite effectiveness. But not very valuable.

Value = Whatever the customer says it is.

I'm not really interested in maximizing Value either. It's too hard to measure. So here's the only thing I'm really interested in maximizing:

Value Delta = Tonight's Value - This Morning's Value

So here are my simple rules to maximize my Value Delta:

  1. Work on only one thing.
  2. That thing must be the most important thing.
  3. Keep working on that one thing.
  4. Take sensible breaks.
  5. I control my time, no one else.
  6. No text, cell phones, twitter, facebook, messaging (see #5).
  7. Assess my Value Delta several times per day.
  8. Bad Assessment --> change something.
  9. If I am in Coding mode, be at the computer.
  10. If I am not in Coding mode, be anywhere else.

How do you measure your value at that level of granularity Ed?

Given that Value == whatever the customer says, how do you measure the change in value of the project over the course of a day? (Excluding the trivial case of you completing exactly one "value" per day)

Do you make a reasonable guess at the overall value of a given project, then compare % completed as a % of the total value? (How then do you handle the receding goalposts of scope creep?)

I often find it difficult to measure the value of my work mid-project. It's usually only at the end when I can, for example, point to how many hours-per-person-per-year of work I've saved other people.

How you measure...

Simple answer:

I guess my original post was a long round-about way of saying:

Bad measure: "Do I feel like a had a good day?"

Better measure: "Do I feel like I got a lot done today?"

Best measure: "Do I have more valuable stuff built now than I did this morning?"

Sometimes we should just use the simplest measure and leave it at that.

how many hours-per-person-per-year of work I've saved other people

Oddly, in my experience, this is a poor metric. Example: I wrote a sophisticated workbench to make inventory planners much more efficient. And they were. All 8 of them. Then I made a 5 minute change to enable factory supervisors sort their dispatch list 8 different ways. Which helped 800 people become more efficient. That's why I don't even try to measure "value" anymore. I let the customer worry about that. I stick with daily deltas as my best measure.

So, if I understand you correctly, you treat this as a binary and not as a quantity.

  if total_value_end_of_day > total_value_start_of_day
  then
    productive
  else
    NOT productive

Do I have that right?

Pretty much.

Do that enough days in a row and you'll have little else to worry about.

(I'd say "good" instead of "productive".)

Productivity isn't necessarily the wrong term here. In the context of individual productivity, your Input is always going to be a unit (say, a day) of your time. While you can split your time between a number of different tasks, your overall productivity still has 'one day' in the denominator (at least until cryogenic freezing is an option). Second, Output doesn't need to be measured in lines of code, it can be Value. The way you have written 'Value Delta' as a difference of two Values measured one day apart you have obscured the fact that time is in the denominator. The interesting quantity for a given interval is (Value Delta) / (Time Delta), which can reasonably be called efficiency or productivity.

The ultimate metric is product, not productivity, you are correct about that. One seeks to maximize their production in the course of their lifetime.

However,

1. Productivity = product / unit of time

2. Time is a constant (there are only 24 hours in a day, we cannot stretch time aside from living healthier)

Thus, maximizing productivity is practically the same thing as maximizing product, our ultimate metric.

If you're going to play a pointless game of semantics, you should at least take a second to check your definitions:

"pro·duc·tion: (Economics) the creation of value; the producing of articles having exchange value."

100,000 lines of generated code would have no value and, therefore, your productivity would not be "incredible" at all, it would be zero. You knew what he was asking for, no need to try to rewrite his question.

What you call "semantics", I call "a critical distinction" that needed to be pointed out.

In my early years, I wasted a lot of energy trying to be more productive, efficient, effective, (call it whatever you want), until I learned one of the most valuable and counter-intuitive lessons of my career: it really doesn't matter how "good" you are, how "well" you work, or how good you "feel".

All that really matters is whether or not your cumulative contributions keep increasing. Take care of that and you won't have much else to worry about. Don't do that and you'll end up worrying about all the wrong things.

The word was productivity, not production.

"Productivity is a measure of output from a production process, per unit of input."

"the ratio of the quantity and quality of units produced to the labor per unit of time"

[1] http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=productivity

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productivity

The Less Wrong community has some excellent stuff on what this, which it calls akrasia¹. In particular, http://lesswrong.com/lw/1sm/akrasia_tactics_review/ gives ratings for different strategics.

Other HN threads on the same subject: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1429634 and http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1190389

¹ http://www.google.com/search?q=less+wrong+akrasia

Take time spent reading about "productivity hacks", apply towards projects. Diminishing returns, people.

Just one suggestion: Write things down. Whether on paper or on a computer. Don't get too caught up in "having a system", though - it's WAY too easy to procrastinate by tinkering with your system.

Yes! I think there's a danger of becoming addicted to ways to be more productive. Arguably, someone who daily reads a productivity blog should be producing a lot, but you might wonder if that is the case...

Too much knowledge doesn't imply too much work, You are right. In fact what matters like always is the execution. If you have a process to remain productive, what matters is to execute that process well and with discipline.

That process might not be very great or best in class, but well executed bad ideas always lead to better result than badly executed good areas. Here is my hack for remaining productive. Which I have tinkered after reading David Allen's 'Getting things done'.

I have a table which has the following common fields. Task, Deadline, Started, Finished, Log, Priority and Next Step. A little modified from David's actual GTD. This table helps me do many things, first plan my tasks, next set a deadline to achieve it. Started and finished fields help me measure how much time I have taken to get it done. Log gives me an idea of complexity. Priority decides what needs to come next after what. Next step keeps me on tip of heels always generating new work for me.

I review this every night before going to sleep. And at least once a day if I'm hitting the daily deadlines. Now comes the most important of all, its called 'DISCIPLINE'. If one is not disciplined none of this ceremony works. Infact I would say better get disciplined before you get into all these techniques. Discipline is a personality trait, It has to be developed with patience, perseverance and practice. You don't get disciplined by tinkering /etc/hosts you get disciplined by making it happen even without tinkering /etc/hosts.

Another important part is review. You must review your progress every now and then. My review happens every Sunday afternoon, the review happens by measuring what I have done. What will I do and is all that really sufficient to meet my daily, weekly, monthly, six monthly, yearly and then life goals.

I make it a point to apply this not just to work, but even to my hobbies. My music practice and other stuff. Most of the users here have suggested very fine ways of measuring productivity I guess I will employ some of those techniques during my review process.

This might sound backwards, but sometimes I do my best work after I decide I'm not going to do anything that day.

I go outside and walk around and just think, day dream, brainstorm. Almost always, I'll start thinking about "work" in some form and will end up dying to get back to it. I'm usually incredibly productive when I get into this mindset.

I turned this into a "hack" by waking up early (7AM) and deciding that I'm not going to do any work until noon -- just spend some time outside. By 9AM I'm usually itching to crank on something.

(This doesn't work for me if you watch movies or TV during your "thinking time"... you have to be alone with just your thoughts...)

Answer on Quora: http://www.quora.com/How-can-I-increase-my-productivity

From the answer summary:

-Develop a system of personal collection, organisation and action that suits your personality and role (GTD etc) - a guiding set of principles that translates your goals into actions in a way that is complementary to your professional and psychological makeup.

-Have a method of accountability to that system (A physical system - such as a diary, planner, task manager etc - that allows you to monitor and measure progression)

-Understand your personality / psychology and its impact on your productivity. Some people will respond well to "have to" / "ought to" commands. Others will find that a dynamic to rebel against, and will need unstructured time.

-Understand that "small strokes fell great oaks". In other words, make a start on your work, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Start and keep starting.

-Actively incorporate health / exercise / leisure to stimulate thought and promote longevity.

-Leverage as much as possible where appropriate. Networks, opportunities. Build momentum.

-Love what you do. Productivity is easy when your heart is in it.

Also liked this quote from Peter Drucker: “Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.”

That's practical! thx

Block HN - see http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=2513708

(shameless plug - you can subscribe to http://www.hackernewsletter.com if you feel like you are missing too much)

When you realize you are wasting time call it a day off or go for a walk. Sitting in front of the computer trying to find the strength does not help.

Follow habits: e.g: if I a work from home I still get dressed as if I was going to work.

If you are a procrastinator, don't fight your inner instincts, you are going to lose the battle. Instead, try to use it in your favor. See http://www.structuredprocrastination.com/ by Stanford professor John Perry. When you read that the first time you have an epiphany.

#1 Private exec office with no frills costs $500/mo-$700/mo... so worth it

#2 Wear noise-blocking headphones (the kind you use for yardwork or from levenger.com)

#3 Use Pomodoros: 30 mins focused work, 5 min breaks

#4 Open HN and/or Google Reader only during Pomodoro breaks; use PostRank to filter most popular stuff in your feeds.

#5 Skim all news/articles and send good ones to Instapaper for iPad reading.

#6 Never take more than 2 "wildcard" coffees/lunches per week.

#7 Setup 2 calendars on Tungle or WhenBusy, one calendar that's very limited for wildcards (see #8) and one that's for urgent/high-priority meetings.

Re #2: I've tried many models, but I invariably find them too uncomfortable. Have you found a model that excels?

Re #1: I've had issues with noise at home (various homes -- what is it with people, these days?). To the point where renting a private office seems a reasonable additional expense. In fact, I might consider downgrading my living quarters and putting the saved expense towards an office.

I wonder whether others find that a practical solution, and if so, what tips they might have for finding and negotiating a quiet private office. Not a shared/business office -- a private office. (This should probably be a separate thread, if there's any interest.)

I think a thread about leasing private office space is a great idea. I found my place by driving around and looking for "for lease" signs. I tried coworking before that, but way too many distractions, and no ability to keep your monitor(s) and keyboard setup there. I think ideas for "private hacker space" -- something between coworking and overpriced offices like Regus would be valuable.

RE headpones: The pair I use I got at Levenger over 10 years ago. Served me well in grad school and while writing the code for the MVP of my first startup that I ended up selling.

I suppose I should do what homework I can, and summarize the results, before asking -- so that I'm hopefully contributing to the conversation and not merely taking.

I'll put it on my projects list.

What social strategies do you use to limit your "wildcard" coffees and lunches without offending people or creating awkward situations? I just quit my day job recently to focus on my startup and have been getting tons of introductions to all sorts of people. While it's been really fun and beneficial, it also is pretty distracting from actually building something.

1. Put HN on 'noprocrast' for 8 hours away, 20mins maxvisit (check the settings in your profile). This will let you check HN twice a day, which is enough.

2. Don't drink caffeine within 8 hours of bed time. You'll get better night's sleep. Helps to have decaf tea & coffee at the ready

3. Take a notebook, write down 'what can I achieve in the next hour', make it a realistic guess. Now, work for 45 mins, and when anything else occurs to you, like check the news, send an email, look something up on the web, just write it down on the opposite page. After 45 mins, spend 15 mins doing those extra things you wrote down. Rinse, repeat. This removes the discomfort of not satisfying your whims (you've noted them down, so you'll definitely get round to them), while letting you work in a focussed manner without task switching or timewasting.

I also do these things: don't care about Facebook, email, Twitter, but that's not hard for me admittedly. I barely care anyway. Also, before you start a messageboard/forum post, be aware it will probably cost you 4 hours or so before it's done with.

This is what I do, working in a company with an open plan layout:

* Disable all notification software (growl, etc.).

* If possible, find a quiet place where you won't get disturbed. Otherwise, wear noise canceling headphones or something else that blocks out noise. If listening to music, pick something ambient that won't distract your attention (some ideas: http://xerxes-music.com, http://ghosts.nin.com).

* Have a place to dump thoughts that occur out of context so you can focus on the task at hand. This can simply be a notepad.

* Take regular breaks and don't forget to take care of yourself. If you're hungry, take a break and get a snack.

* Recognize when you're not being productive and give your mind a rest by doing something fun. This doesn't have to be unrelated to work. I have a list of "fun tasks" that are low priority otherwise.

I write things down. I set micro-deadlines. I force myself to move on after the deadline, or if I really need to finish it, set another deadline. I need to keep the pressure on. A little distraction is a slippery slope for me, so it's usually all or nothing (guess which one this is? :-)) Okay, back to work.

I came to grips with the fact that I'm a terrible multitasker, and that I'm easily distracted. Thus, I now only work on one thing at a time. That includes email, IM, surfing the web, and any other sources of distractions. I only check email 1-2 times per day, and try to respond to as much of it as possible when I do check it. Check out Merlin Mann's Inbox Zero for how to efficiently deal with your inbox.

I'm also a big fan of Tim Ferriss's idea of limiting the amount of information you consume. The more HN I read, the more talk shows I listen to the radio, the more twitter I read through, the stuff that's competing for attention in my head. The big realization for me was that the cost of doing these things wasn't just the time I spend doing them, but also the brainshare they take up, once I've moved back to doing something productive.

Gather everything needed for project. Turn off internet.

This is true. I get my most productive work done on the train during my commute to/from Manhattan. I have spotty internet even with a MiFi so I get to focus.

I stay productive with meaningful deadlines. If it doesn't have a solid deadline, you're not likely to see it 'on time'. Ever had someone tell you, "Oh, just whenever you get a chance..." and then 3 months later you find the frantically scribbled Post-It with the request written in your own handwriting? Yeah, that's me all the time. Make it important, make it due, and tell me why its important. The social contract means a lot, and you can exploit it to get things done.

Anyways, that's all I have for you. Of course, working smarter, not harder, has always been my maxim thanks to one of my high school teachers.

Stop reading and worrying about it and just choose a productivity hack and do it regularly, hourly if possible. Then reflect on, adjust it, and iterate. Guarantee within days of doing this you'll have discovered your own productivity hack that really works for you. I started using this Dotout app twice an hour, 2 minute periods. Found it really works, added my own visualization and reflection at the end and I'm 3 times as productive as I ever was.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dotout-improve-focus-concentr...

Form a hacker group. Invite other coders/designers/bloggers to join you at a location. Have everyone sit at tables or desks so that what they are working on is easily visible to at least a couple others (no one lounging in the corner drooling to farmville ...)

It's surprising the amount of work you can get done when surrounded by other people working, especially people who are passionate about their projects. As to distractions? The simple social pressure exerted by being in this group is almost always enough to keep everyone on task - no one wants to be the guy that is always there but never has anything to show off.

1- No television

2- Physical good shape

3- Eating well (and actually knowing what eating well means)

I'm not sure the forth one is for everyone, but...I used to wake up on weekends at 10:00am (at the earliest). I'm a morning person (as in, I'm not grumpy/tired when I do wake up earlier), but I just love sleeping in. When I moved, I didn't get good blinds..and I've been waking up naturally with the sun. On the weekends, it gives me an extra 2-3 hours in the morning. However, the biggest change is on the weekdays, where waking up more naturally than a shocking alarm, seems to make me even more receptive to waking up early.

I agree with latch. Eating well, getting exercise and sleeping well are the #1 contributors to my long-term productivity and effectiveness.

I'm not saying you have to be a gym rat but some kind of routine (even a 30-60 minute walk) and regular non-junk meals will make you feel better, and as a result sleep better.

The results are cumulative, and they will beat the pants off any task-driven coffee-fueled routine you develop for yourself while eating pizza at your desk at 3am. :-)

Here are some things I do:

1) One task at a time. Hint: Use a todo list to break things up into individual tasks.

2) Don't be a perfectionist. Hint: Just get it working - make it fast/scalable/sexy/whatever later.

3) Separate work and play. Hint: VMWare and GNU Screen are awesome for keeping your work in the state you last left it, and sandboxing it from play.

4) No distractions. Hint: If it doesn't write code, read code, or play music, it gets closed. My phone gets put on silent and hidden.

5) Get plenty of sleep.

6) No caffeine for the 8 hours before I go to bed.

7) No computer for the 2 hours before I go to bed.

8) Exercise every morning.

9) A post-it note in the middle of my desk that says "DO IT NOW."

I've found that if I listen to podcasts, I tend to flit around between coding, HN, facebook, flickr, etc. If I listen to music, I can stay focused for hours. So my recent hack was to create an rdio station combining the Tron soundtrack, it's remix, and (oddly) upbeat Lady Gaga tracks. I happened to get that mix by accident a few weeks ago at a coffee shop and was startled at how much time passed, and how much I got done.

I think the more general point is to identify the mental triggers that put you into a zone, and work on refining ways to put you there on demand.

My take on productivity is:

If I'm going to be productive and get things done, then I'm going to want to.

If I don't want to get things done, and I force myself to, I won't become magically productive, I'm just going to try to get the task done as quick and cheap as possible because I don't want to be doing it. So the quality of that work lacks.

So when I'm feeling unproductive, I go browse the internet for a little while or get up and walk around until I want to work again. So far this has worked for me throughout my jobs and my managers have yet to complain about it.

I usually get in to the office a bit after 8. I try to fix one bug / get one thing Done before 9. After that, everyone else gets in the office and everything descends into chaos and meetings.

Programmers are like trains, hard to get started and easy to get derailed.

Given that, how to you get into a coding mood? The quicker you can get into a coding mood, the faster you can knock features.

Leave yourself fun hooks. If it's the end of the day and there's a task coming up that you really want to do - you know how to do it, and you know it will be fun - don't do it. Leave it until tomorrow. That way when you start tomorrow, you'll have something fun that you know how to do, and that will get the ball rolling.

This doesn't just apply to coding. I've used the same technique when writing papers. Some things are just more fun to write than others, and I'll sometimes leave those as hooks to get me going next time.

Not literature, but the Bose QC15 noise cancelling headphones work wonders for my productivity. Also, completely clearing my desk is surprisingly helpful.

I think this mindset illustrates the problem: You're looking for hacks, which means the normal route doesn't cut it. What ever happened to "just-effing-do-it"? When I want to get in a coding mood, I start coding. I know eventually I'll get in the mood.

People want a magic pill that gives you the willpower to get things done. I've always seen this as a new-age-psychology-meets-internet-human-hacking thing. JFDI \m/

Unplug internet!!!! I thought I'd be less productive without internet at first since I can't google things.. but I was totally wrong. There's like a 5x productivity gain, and the thing I need to look up, I just do it in a "chunk" later in the day. (Anecdote: The first time I tried the "no internet" things.. I just had internet so I had no choice. But now, I do it voluntarily).

1. Just start. That'll help you to get into flow - http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000339.html

2. JFDI - http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/design-process/ten-produ...

My biggest hack: accepting that this battle will never be won. If I rely on a "system", I stop fighting the demons of fear, procrastination, and perfectionism. I adapt my methods, stay in the moment, break tasks into small digestible chunks, and calmly move forward.

Also, I'm not above cutting myself off from time-wasting sites in /etc/hosts when I really need to. :P

Just blocking coworker chatter does wonders for me:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000X6L82/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp...

After unsuccessful fight with distractions i decided to maximize pleasure, not productivity :)

Of course it works only if you are not a full time worker and there are for profit projects, that you love to work on.

BTW, i used to think, that i spend time here on HN in vain, but now half of my income comes thanks to one of comments here i read.

Remove the clock from your desktop view. It surprising how much unneeded stress and distraction is tied to it.

This is what I do: http://www.dextronet.com/blog/2011/04/10-best-tricks-of-fool...

Make grand promises that are almost achievable. Then dash to meet the expectations.

Of course, if you care about looking good to your boss, this is a lousy strategy. Try the reverse for that.

To be highly productive, I unplug the network cable. A more sophisticated solution would be configuring privoxy to block twitter.com, mail.google.com and facebook.com.

I've been experimenting with the pomodoro technique: http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/

When I have clear tasks to complete, I find the Pomodoro technique to work really well. Also, after the first couple sets, I can often continue working without distractions without actually setting the timer.

Todo-list in Google tasks is working for me these days.

Work for a company or industry that you enjoy. That you couldn't imagine doing anything else. You'll never have a problem being productive again.

I monitor how I spend time at my computer by running rescuetime. Their productivity report makes me want to do better, so then I waste less time.

stayfocusd for chrome https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/laankejkbhbdhmipfm...

Best advice I've heard yet is the following:

One thing at a time.

Most important thing first.

Start now.

The "most important thing first" can sometimes get in the way, I find. Maybe that thing is not yet clear in my head, or seems overwhelmingly difficult. Diving in with a less important task first can sometimes be a way to build up to tackle the more urgent tasks.

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