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Comment by mlLK | Hacker News Reader

I'm so undisciplined sometimes I wish I had my own personal drill-sergeant (akin to that guy from Full Metal Jacket) to kick my ass as soon I start losing my train of thought. . .does anyone else here consider their wandering train of thought a problem?

Usually I spend so much time trying to figure wtf I should do that I either end-up micro-managing some code snippet that doesn't matter or day-dreaming about how awesome my hypothetical startup is, which frankly doesn't do anything at all!

How do you guys manage to do work that really matters on your own time without anyone else there to keep you on task, implement a set constraints for you to work within, or tell you what the problem is? i.e. gimme some tips to self-manage my train of thought.

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I live and die by lists personally. I will make a list of things to do before I'm done for the day and I try to knock the list out. But I also have a drop-dead end of the day time. Don't pull an 18 hour day unless you're so deep in the zone you don't realize you've done it!

You sound like my Dad. . .which isn't bad but I've heard it all before. I don't know why I resisted this list making mantra for such a long time, but nevertheless, I gave in a little over a year ago and started making lists my college course work.

But a list in college is different since the assignment is my constraint thus it is much easier to work within because the assignment or project provides the problem and upstream requirements for me. For some reason reading software requirements, doing a mathematical proof, or looking over case diagrams for pre-existing problems puts me on the right train of thought by forcing me to focus on how I'm doing it not on what I'm doing.

I often suffer from the same day-dreaming and building castles in the air problem you described in your OP.

I have found that just writing down all these ideas allows me to focus on something else. I think the reason I constantly think about them is that I'm attempting to remember everything. The act of putting it on paper allows me to rest easy on that front.

I also prefer legal pads to everything else I have found, even electronic. There is just something about pen and paper and being able to cross out or annotate that helps me organize my thoughts. I sound like a luddite saying that, I know, but it's true.

I also spend some time every so often to go through my lists and consolidate or elaborate on items. Many times I'll find the reason I haven't been able to start on something is because it's too broad and ill-defined. Thinking about it and turning that one item into half a dozen more actionable (is that a word?) items helps get me started.

You're a very ready candidate for GTD. Get the book it'll change your life.

I'd like to hear some advice about this, too. anyone? anyone?!?

I've often thought it would be awesome to find a personal assistant/drill-sergeant/project-manager to keep me on track. I can't figure out how to pull that off, though...

Instead I remain frustrated with myself (and my 42 minute attention span)

hey tricky, I'm interested in what you imagine a drill sergeant would do? How would it work? I'm creating a productivity course which might involve something extra like this. Any ideas? Thanks!

I don't have the answer, but I can assure you that being an inspiration for others to get their work done, whilst trying to be creative yourself, can be pretty exhausting sometimes. :)

The trick to building something real for me is that it has to address a real problem someone has, that is addressable in some way in a relatively short period of time. If its a theoretical problem, or enormous, I will obsess over silly details and get lost on tangents that are most interesting to me but not integral to a solution... whereas if I have a clear vision of my goal, things just kind of flow into line and get done.

Happens to me too. I've found that having a collaborator really helps to get things done, because I don't want to let them down. I'm almost at the point where I won't start projects unless I have a collaborator.

Maybe the next step is to have users? I have an app I'd like to have users for, but it isn't quite ready yet. Maybe once you have actual users that will keep you motivated as well.

There are life coaches who will do this sort of thing:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2008/04/life-coaching/

You probably have adult ADD and need ritalin. Every person on this forum probably does too. I have it for one. Get checked.

Earlier today, my friend tried to convince me that the answer to this recurring predicament is to join the Marine Corps.

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