
Ask HN: How do you get in your "productive" mode? - hajrice
I'm struggling with getting in my productive mode. For some reason, I can work for 10 straight hours if I'm at school, with my peers(I attend high school). Though, when home, I find it very hard to work at least 1h.<p>Suggestions? Thanks.
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zaphar
I've found that there are no tricks. It's mostly just sit down and start
working. It'll take about 5-10 minutes of steady concentration and suddenly
I'll drop into the zone. There is no substitute for "just do it" as far as my
personal makeup goes. I used to try all the various hack your mind stuff that
comes out every few years. But when it came down to it there was no substitute
for just sheer concentration on the task at hand.

~~~
staunch
The Chain Reaction Method. A little bit of work is enough to trigger a
snowball effect. The only "trick" I use is to start by working on something
that's extremely easy/fun first. Once I'm knee deep it's not difficult to take
on more challenging things.

I still have no solution for the larger multi-week productivity swings that
seem to occur...

~~~
aristoxenus
Emphasis on "easy": even if it's just typo-fixing in your code or doing
problems from week 1 of class, mundane/brainless tasks fine kindling for
getting your brain chugging along for the bigger problems.

~~~
electromagnetic
This triggers it for me easily, I go a few dozen lines above and read through.
I find it helps snap me back into the 'work' mode, which allows me to continue
on. On some projects this has got to the point that it becomes like how
putting on sweat pants makes you behave differently than wearing a suit.

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scottw
You might want to consider that your brain has limits:

<http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2009/12/willpower.php>

I don't want to say "you can't do it" but I remember from my school days
hitting the wall and there was nothing I could do about it until I'd had time
to rest and recharge.

Here are some interesting links about gumption I've collected over the past
few months (mostly from HN):

<http://www.alistapart.com/articles/burnout/> <http://sivers.org/dont-fight-
it> <http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/006569.html>

In short, 10 hours of mental work might be your limit. I know that if I can
squeeze in 10 solid hours of good creative mental work, I've had an
_extremely_ good day. Most good days I'll eek out 6 hours. Average days are
probably around 4.

You might look at options to reduce that 10 hours somehow. Some people drop
out of school, some just skip a class a day, some drop a class from the
schedule altogether, etc.

You also don't talk about what your 11th hour is. Finding something
interesting to you, especially if you're out of gumption, will be critical.

When you're full of mental energy, you can do anything; when you're out mental
energy, your choices of what you can do are limited to easy things that are
interesting.

Good luck!

------
KentBeck
Establishing a rhythm helps. Make a cup of tea every time you sit down to
work. Light a candle. Turn on a certain style of music.

Me I like juggling as a warm up.

~~~
euccastro
Nitpick: did you mean "ritual"?

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tungstenfurnace
If it seems that you can't get some task done and you aren't making any
progress this means that either (a) it lies beyond your present abilities,
and/or (b) your heart isn't in it.

>I can work for 10 straight hours if I'm at school

This is part of the problem IMO. Schools are inherently coercive and this
messes up one's approach to instrinsically motivated learning.

It is the _task itself_ that provides the reward. If the work is noble and
interesting and if it lies within your abilities then you will find sufficient
vitality is available to perform it.

OTOH, forcing yourself to do stuff (as if you were still at school) causes the
mind to slowly shut down (starting with loss of creativity).

>I find it very hard to work at least 1h

If you weren't doing the 'work', what would you be doing instead during that
hour? Start with that, and do it better.

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onewland
I think the trick that almost everybody uses, even if they don't realize it,
is to determine what the simplest (read: least time consuming) possible task
to move their project forward is. Even if you spend time thinking about this
and "not getting anything done", you're really getting planning done. When
you've figured out what that task is it's easy to knock it out, and you'll
probably do it pretty quickly because you've been thinking the problem
through.

And don't read Hacker News :)

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city41
Explore and try things. I have found listening to my favorite music is a
hindrance, for example. I instead have found that listening to drum'n'bass or
jazz helps a lot. I normally wouldn't listen to them, but they are more
nondescript and fill the background space nicely, allowing me to concentrate.

I'm there to work, not enjoy my music, so I am perfectly OK with this change.

------
nostrademons
Are you trying to work for 1h _on top of_ the 10h you've already worked in
school? If so, that may be your problem.

Almost nobody can work for 10h straight. I'd guess that you're taking breaks
for lunch and between classes, and to hang out with friends. It could just be
that you've run out of juice by the time you get home.

I've found that I get about 3-4h of good, productive, cognitively demanding
work done a day. My friends in grad school say this is fairly typical of them
too. If there's an exciting project with a deadline, I might be able to go up
to 7-8 hours in bursts, but that's paid for by a week or so of complete
unproductivity afterwards.

The good news is that this is enough. Those people you hear about who've built
world-changing inventions? They didn't do it through working _more_ , they did
it through working _more effectively_. That means paying attention to what's
important, doing it, and letting the busywork slide.

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tetha
One thing that works for me is thinking out aloud. I don't really understand
why, and frequently, the spoken words turn into some foreign tongue no one
really understands (especially if the train of thought goes faster), but
somehow this helps with keeping the train of thought going against all kinds
of obstacles and distractions.

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Scott_MacGregor
_Use coffee and a special environment like Pavlov’s Dog to trigger you to
work._

Put together a customized workspace for yourself. It doesn’t have to be big,
just outside the regular house living space somewhere. Somewhere like the
garage or basement (even a big closet). Somewhere you can be alone and not
bothered by anyone but is not a bedroom.

Set yourself up with a desk/table and proper office chair like you can get
from Office Depot. Hook up the internet for yourself and a put in a good light
source, also buy a small 1-man coffee maker from Walmart or somewhere cheap
and buy some strong coffee. Keep the coffee maker and coffee in your workspace
and drink coffee when you are there while focusing on getting down to work.
Don’t play games there or do anything but work in there and drink coffee.

Since you are in high school here are a couple of links about Pavlov’s dog in
case you don’t know about him. (ps. teachers always seem to like reports about
things like Pavlov’s dog for extra credit.)

[http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/pavlov/read...](http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/pavlov/readmore.html)

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov>

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jsz0
I like to complete one small task to break the ice and remind myself there is
a little intellectual reward waiting at the end of every completed task. If
you string together a few small successes you can build some momentum. It's
important to be realistic about how much time you spend working in a day to
avoid burn out. Personally I think 10-12 hours is probably a natural
limitation most people face. You can't neglect other parts of your life and
stay productive. Gotta find the right balance or you'll burn out.

If I really have trouble getting motivated about a project I will try to find
a better or easier solution. I can't really grind away at something I'm not
interested in. I need to figure out a way to get into the project. One of the
things that helps me is making diagrams. I will spend a lot of time making
sure all the fonts are right, good colors, good spacing, etc. It's silly but,
in the end, I have this really nice diagram and I'm somehow more motivated to
make it a reality. The other trick is to find people who are interested in
what you're doing. Their excitement and interest can be infectious. It really
helps to feel like what you're working on isn't a waste of time.

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thaumaturgy
Work in a public place (cafe, library).

Alternatively, here's my trick: I have a "work" Pandora station. I turn it on
when it's time to work, and I never turn it on unless I'm working. While it's
on, it's time to work.

When it pauses after an hour, I can choose either to take a short break --
with the music off -- or I can immediately re-start it and continue to work
for the next hour.

It's been a handy bit of mental conditioning.

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slmbrhrt
I can't think straight without my headphones and some decent music or white
noise.

I use awesomewm, which, like ratpoison and ion, works hard to maximize every
window and minimize distractions.

It's also good to designate one part of your room as the spot where you get
your work done, and sit there if and only if you're going to do work, so that
you pair sitting at your desk with getting work done. If you can't get into
hack mode after about fifteen minutes of sitting in front of your work, get up
and do something like solve a Rubik's cube, play Tetris until you lose, or
just go get something to drink, but then sit down and try again.

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gkoberger
I need to make a to-do list (on paper, preferably) of the specific things that
I need to get done

Then, I do them in order. Doing them in order is important- otherwise, I'll
waste time procrastinate by trying to figure out what I should do next. If I
do them in order, disregarding importance or difficulty, I don't spend half my
time debating over whats next.

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csomar
I think none of the above understood your problem. I have the same problem and
my solution was to keep in the university library and study with my peers.
Today life is distracting (emails, facebook, TV...) so you won't resist it.

Another solution is to sell your mobile, tv, laptop, xbox... you'll find your
productive mode.

~~~
euccastro
"None of _the above_ "? The comments get resorted based on popularity, you
know. Also, people may add comments 'above' by replying to existing threads.

------
hyoogle
Check out the "pomodoro technique"- I've used it when I feel like I need to
build up work momentum and after a while it gets me back in the groove...
<http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/>

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angelbob
Something that often helps me: split into smaller tasks, but also prioritize.
What is the most _important_ thing I could do to get my work a step forward?

And by "forward" I mean "more usable" or "more releasable" rather than
"cooler". That's important :-)

------
Zeleboba
I agree with onewland: split your big task into small ones and solve them one
by one.

My experience tells me that it works great, each completed task motivates me
to next one and so on.

~~~
nroach
Yep, I think this was just on HN recently:
[http://www.brepettis.com/blog/2009/3/3/the-cult-of-done-
mani...](http://www.brepettis.com/blog/2009/3/3/the-cult-of-done-
manifesto.html)

I hadn't realized how accurately that describes my productive/unproductive
periods.

------
chasingsparks
I can't force it, but sometimes I can trick myself.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done>

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wensing
Headphones and a clear schedule in front of me. A cup of tea or coffee can
help.

As far as music goes, have an album that you can put on infinite loop.

------
known
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_syndrome>

------
saurabh
Do a ritual before you start working.

------
maqr
Adderall.

~~~
tiffani
Focus Factor works well enough for me. 8 pills a day/$40 per week for a
bottle, and it's probably masking some underlying condition, but it works.

------
tigerthink
Exercise.

------
clistctrl
1.) reduce distractions - this includes a clean workspace etc

2.) appropriate music - I cannot work without headphones, and appropriate
music on, its more of a tool to drown out the rest of the world.

3.) caffine, cold - at work i drink coffee... its just not as effective. I
used to drink a lot of red bull, but my heart started to feel funny so I
switched to coke.

4.) Interest - I need to get myself interested in what i'm working on, this is
incredibly difficult to do with job work. I'm still working on solving this
one.

~~~
jrockway
_caffine, cold - at work i drink coffee... its just not as effective_

I think it's a function of sugar. Really sweet coffee tastes terrible.
Properly sweetened coffee does not give your brain that glucose rush that
super-sweet soda does. (Soda can be super-sweet without tasting bad,
apparently.)

(I drink a lot of coffee and tea, and it's nice, but sugary energy drinks are
something my brain really enjoys the effect of. Not so good for the rest of
your body, however.)

~~~
alttab
Diet Mountain Dew. Zero calories, all the speedy goodness. Nice and cold.

It makes some of the mundane line items or defect work seem like the next
Google sometimes.

That, and going into the work thinking "this is the last code I will ever
write" does the trick. Make your source code a work of art.

~~~
jrockway
Diet soda, or rather, caffeine without sugar, just makes me mad. I drink it,
feel awake, and then feel angry.

I think if you go through my HN history, you can see what days I was trying to
cut down on sugar :)

------
access_denied
I am doing Getting Things Done (GTD). One part of it is the so-called
"Processing" step. That means you gather all your notes, scraps of paper and
so on and work it into your GTD-system. I do this at the beginning of the
workday and it helps to focus my mind on what is going on in my world. Because
I have to think about my notes (What does that mean? Is it actionable?) I have
to load the current "frontier" of problems into RAM. On most days this leads
to automatically starting to work directly on the problem at hand and getting
into the zone.

