
Ask HN: What's your routine/ways to keep being productive day by day? - aryamaan
Interested in initiating a discussion about what worked for you to keep your productivity up. What&#x27;d you learn about yourself working for so far and what&#x27;d you think most of us are doing wrong?
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jppope
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 :)

~~~
badpun
> 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.

~~~
jppope
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.

~~~
badpun
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.

------
otras
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.

~~~
kolencherry
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.

~~~
insomniacity
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...

~~~
achompas
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.

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

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fernandokokocha
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](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).

~~~
zaktiuser990
well thats basically people routines...

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

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keiferski
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.

~~~
dawidw
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.

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tmaly
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.

~~~
JohnJamesRambo
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.

~~~
nf05papsjfVbc
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.

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curo
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.

~~~
altairiumblue
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.

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

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invalidOrTaken
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.

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sethammons
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).

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amorphous
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"

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dmos62
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/](http://worrydream.com/LadderOfAbstraction/)

------
clean_send
A good sleep schedule and a loose approach of time blocking.
[https://medium.com/@naveenraja/a-guide-to-time-blocking-
how-...](https://medium.com/@naveenraja/a-guide-to-time-blocking-how-to-do-
more-while-staying-sane-def13f606789)

------
harrisreynolds
The Best Self Journal is a great tool for setting and achieving goals. Check
it here: [https://bestself.co/](https://bestself.co/)

------
wasted_intel
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).

------
Kagerjay
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

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

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](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

