
Ask HN: What helps you to be productive? - svirelka
Hello guys,
I want to little update my life. Sometime I feel procrastination and I&#x27;m exhausted because of it.
How do you deal with such a condition?
======
echolima
For some it may help to understand the root cause of procrastination, but that
in itself can lead to procrastination by trying to
understand...procrastination. So don't.

First off, don't reward yourself. What I mean by this is don't make a good cup
of coffee to settle in and get the work done. Start the work with a set timer,
say 15 to 30 minutes. Once the timer goes off, then get the coffee. You may
find yourself in a groove and go past the time. This is good. Second, remove
your distractions. This is easy to say, but it is much harder to achieve. Turn
the phone off, lock off the social media. Set yourself up with a schedule to
check your email. Turn off notifications.

Sounds help, but don't let the need to find the right one turn into
procrastination. I like [http://rainycafe.com/](http://rainycafe.com/) as it
drowns out office noise, or at least mutes it a little. Here is an interesting
article on this topic: [https://medium.com/life-learning/how-music-affects-
your-prod...](https://medium.com/life-learning/how-music-affects-your-
productivity-42a6dfa6fdfe#.7gr18jnhe)

Curious to see what others put here. This will be my procrastination today :)

~~~
svirelka
thank you, I'll try :)

------
MikeTV
It took me a long time to realize that procrastination, not work, is what's
been draining me. The Pomodoro Technique is what really brought it to light: I
noticed that on days when I complete 6+ pomodoros (25-minute work sessions)
I'm energized to hack on stuff when I get home; when I only get 4 or fewer
done, it's a struggle.

I use a little desktop application [0] that pops up whenever a work session or
break is finished. Just that little prod is usually enough motivation to
switch before I start feeling worn out.

[0] Tomighty ([http://www.tomighty.org/](http://www.tomighty.org/))

~~~
svirelka
Thank you so much! I heard good reviews about Pomodoro Technique, I'll try it
absolutely.

------
xyzzy4
I find the best way to fight it is I try to do at least one thing per day
towards my work, no matter how small. This usually puts me into a mental state
where I make lots of progress. I wish I had also taken this tactic in high
school and college. I remember usually delaying the start of assignments until
the last minute. Simply starting is the most difficult part for me.

~~~
svirelka
I agree, usually, I try to do something. Thank you!

