> Personally, I like to put a single song on repeat for hours and hours, days even. It helps me zone in. Why does this admittedly strange behavior help me? I'm not sure exactly, but I've known it to be helpful for more than half my life. I like to get up early before the family is awake, close Slack, put my phone in Do Not Disturb mode, and work. I even put a Post-it note on my monitor with the task I'm focusing on to help keep me on track. Sometimes I can accomplish more in that quiet hour and a half than I can in the rest of the day.
Except for the post-it note, I do those exact things. These seem to be the essential pre-requisites to being very productive (for me):
1. Set aside some time to work on something specific (with clear goals and intentions).
2. Block all interruptions (messages and calls of any kind and other distractions).
3. Focus and get in the zone. I find that music helps a lot here, and generally for me it's electric music or songs with very subtle lyrics (almost dream-like). If the lyrics are too noticeable, they become a distraction.
The above works both for my personal projects and work. I work remotely and sometimes there are so many interruptions during the work day that I simply abandon everything and go do something else (a walk, groceries, work out, etc.). Then I catch up in the evening or during the weekend, when interruptions are at a minimum or completely absent for hours on end. Almost always I'm more productive in a couple hours like this than for entire days.
Finally, while I liked the article a lot, I disagree with the premise that projects _must_ be finished. It's fine not to finish a project, it's not failure at all. On the other hand, yes, there is a certain feeling of accomplishment that comes with reaching a level of "completeness" of a project.