
Ask HN: How do you stay productive after work? - bking
Here is my little back story:<p>I work from 8-5(or 6), during work I will take a break and scan for a couple good articles on business, technology, etc. I put the web address in an email to myself to read for later (even if I want to read it all now). At the end of work I send myself the email in hopes that when I get home I continue my enthusiasm to read those articles. Sadly my trend hasn't been what I would like it to be, that of staying motivated, reading articles, and writing down my thoughts or ideas. I am productive in a sense that I go workout to stay in shape and cook dinner, but I would like to keep my head down and work on my own ideas.<p>So I ask, What do you do when you come back from work to keep being productive on personal improvement or projects?
======
jgrahamc
I have worked on lots of personal projects (1), most of which are related to
electronics. I do not do electronics for my job and I do not have a lot of
free time. So, I've found three things to be effective at maximizing my
happiness:

1\. Have multiple projects on the go at once.

I've found that building multiple things at once enables me to best make use
of my available time and resources (such as the equipment/components I have
and spare money). One of the projects will usually have some portion that I
can spend time on, or research, or buy something for. This is especially true
of the researching part.

Depending on my mood I will either (a) not work on the projects at all since
there are plenty of other valuable things to do (such as cooking, interacting
with people, exercising) or (b) pick from the available choices the one that
I'm most in the mood for (e.g. tonight I'd like to finish that amplifier, or
tonight I need to read up on X).

2\. Don't worry about when they get completed.

This has made me achieve more not less. The more I worried I wasn't completing
things the more I stressed myself out and set unrealistic deadlines and then
missed them and got upset. Going slow has helped.

3\. Pick work that fits in the available time.

I might have an entire evening free, or I might have 20 minutes. There's
usually something from the multiple projects that will fit in that available
time.

For example, when I worked on my high-altitude balloon project GAGA-1(2) it
took me a 9 months of grabbing an hour here, an evening there. The result was
fantastic and I don't feel bad about it having taken 9 months instead of a
month of total cramming.

(1) <http://jgc.org/labs.html> (2)
<http://blog.jgc.org/2011/04/gaga-1-flight.html>

~~~
bking
Thanks for the in-detail response! on a side note, your gaga-1 experiment is
awesome.

------
cfontes
For me it's simple I just hate to work in companies that are not mine, so when
I get home at night my brain keeps telling me my life is going to be a
nightmare if I don't do my stuff.

I just can't sleep without commiting some code, or looking for a solution for
a problem I am having in my side project, I need to at least search for it.

If I stay too much time ( Girlfriend, family, sports etc..) like 5hrs or +
away from my things I start day dreaming about problems I have to solve in
periods I am alone but cannot get to a computer, and I feel a urge to get home
soon.

Anyway it's my curse... I gotta have side projects otherwise live is
meaningless( at least at this time of my life)

It's me and sometimes people get pissed at me but I am like that love me or
hate me :D.

P.S: a LIGHT ( not running a 15kms) exercise really helps, it's like your body
is ready for the next 24hrs at 9pm.

~~~
joshklein
It's interesting how we can have opposite reactions to the same situation;
working in previous jobs I hated, getting home at night left me feeling
drained of energy and needing to "decompress". I could never focus on my own
work until I quit the day job.

~~~
cafard
_Soul of a New Machine_ quotes Tom West, who directed development of Data
General's first 32-bit mini, as saying (roughly), The problem with stupid jobs
is that they leave you too tired to do anything when you go home. (Adjective
not vouched for.)

~~~
septerr
I feel the same way. The periods when my motivation and thus productivity at
work are lowest, my brain's least productive after work. It's because I am
consumed by the guilt of not having done my job during the day. On the
contrary when I am productive at work, there's a spring in my step when I go
home and my mind is ready to happily tackle new problems.

------
drostie
Usually, what happens for me is, I spend from 10-6 working on my Master's
thesis or occasionally distracted, I spend from 5:45-7:30 playing Ultimate (a
running sport with a frisbee) with some friends two days out of the week, I
hop down to the stores before they close, at 9pm I get home and cook myself
dinner. The days where I don't exercise are sometimes spent working later on
the thesis, since I can get distracted on the Internet while at work and
nobody bugs me.

That last point is I think the single most significant thing that you have to
establish. _When someone wants it_ , you will find it much easier to continue.
Most of my projects are unwanted, and are therefore on the back-burner.

I don't mean to blend religion with Hacker News too much, but it is very
important to me that we realise the power of ritual, and what we take for
granted. So it is just taken for granted that my phone will go off with an
alarm at 11:30pm, and then I will change into comfortable evening clothes,
brush my teeth, turn off the computer, sit down on a meditation cushion with a
pen and paper, and _write_. These are usually religious writings, and I don't
want to get into that too much here, but the ritual, as well as the great
importance to me, helps me to practise this skill. Setting an alarm on your
phone is a good idea because it can interrupt the distractions.

As for those side projects, what really helps for me is that I walk to my
apartment and back. Whenever I talk about the fact that my primary
transportation mode is walking Hacker News seems to have pretty tepid
responses -- "why not bicycle or drive home and then sit for half an hour
instead?" -- but the distractions when walking are very different. Sometimes,
I practise my singing on the way home, with music from my mobile. That's
generally an indication that my brain wants some rest and I should watch
television or read a book. Other times, I am thinking about a physics idea, or
superpowers, or one of my projects -- then after dinner, my goal is to sit
down at my laptop and write something on those projects.

I think we need to learn two skills of resolve. One of them is flow, focusing
one-pointedly and whole-heartedly on something and loving it to death. (Love
is always transformative and gives our lives worth and meaning.) Another one
is reflection, breaking out of the things which we take for granted and
casting them into the void. It is by voiding the distractions that you see the
messiness of the room; it is your love of the room that makes you clean up the
mess. That is not a _complete_ guide to an authentic life, but it is the most
important for what you have asked.

------
JAVagueArgument
A good employer should allow you the freedom to read the articles and do
actives that will enhance your skill set (e.g. The Google 20% time).

I have never asked if I can, but every job I have always read articles I have
found. Some companies I have openly told my boss that is what I do and
sometimes those articles have not been directly related to my job, yet still
this has been thought of as ok.

So my advice is, do it at work, your employer should be pleased that you want
to broaden your skill set, it can only benefit them in the end. Just don't do
it to a capacity that has a negative impact on your deliverables.

~~~
thoughtpalette
Excellent reply. I actually track my time on Personal R&D. Even on HackerNews.
It's nice to have an employer that facilitates a continuous learning
environment.

~~~
JAVagueArgument
Thanks. I one day plan to create my own company and free self learning time is
going to be encouraged.

It is slightly cliché but this was recently posted on our internal "social
network"... CFO asks "what if we spend our money training our staff and they
leave?", CTO replies "what if we don't and they stay?".

So many jobs, especially technical, require constant education, an employer
who wants the best employees know and encourage that.

------
kenneth
You're equating reading articles to being productive. I find the opposite to
be true. When I spend an evening browsing hacker news is when I feel
unproductive.

I feel productive when I put away all the distractions, and just hack on one
of my personal projects, of which there are plenty.

~~~
wizzard
Exactly. How is reading articles helping you reach your goals? How is just
writing down your ideas productive?

Maybe the reason you're not excited about doing those things is because you
know that doing them does not equal progress. Being productive means producing
something, and not just words on paper (unless you're a writer).

Pick an idea you're really interested in -- something you actually want to use
yourself -- and start working on it.

------
hunterjrj
Take a break. Seriously.

After your 9/10 hour work day, focus on something unrelated: Exercise, meal
preparation - things you have already mentioned. Come back to your projects
after a couple of hours, and WITHOUT pressuring yourself to do so. The added
pressure will make these personal projects/goals less palatable.

Edit: Clarity

~~~
madoublet
I agree with this completely. I would like to add that if you are working 9-10
hours a day, you might want to look for a job that offers you a standard 8
hour work day. If you are passionate about side work, sometimes trading less
pay for standard work hours is worth it.

------
wfrick
For me, exercise is key. If I get in 30+min of exercise after work it's like
hitting the reset button on my energy and I can squeeze out another couple
hours of productivity.

~~~
Modernnomad84
I totally agree with this. 2x per week I play a game of soccer after work and
then grab dinner with friends. By the time I get home around 9pm I could
easily do another stretch of work.

On the days when I don't switch gears, there would be no way I could do
_focused_ work for more than an hour or two.

Honestly, if I ever really wanted to do a computer-based startup, I would
leave my 9-5 job and do landscaping or something physical during the day. I
don't think it's realistic to ask your body to be in front of a computer for
12 hours a day.

~~~
sillygoose44
+1, in the past where I worked in hospitality, 4 days on 4 off, I could
happily spent 3/4 days off building websites.

For the last 2 or 3 years working in agencies, you need a lot of extra
willpower to get back on the computer after work.

I work best late at night and early in the morning so just try and fit my side
projects in around that time, when I'm most productive.

------
madhadron
Try monitoring your energy level. I ran this experiment on myself
(<http://madhadron.com/?p=254>) with very useful results. I know that my
energy level drops like a rock at 16h and doesn't really come back until about
20h. So I take care of stuff that doesn't require massive energy in that gap
and try to protect my second energy burst of the day for getting other stuff
done.

As for the articles you've emailed yourself, I find it quite often the case
that I no longer have enthusiasm a few hours later to read something that
seemed interesting at first glance. The best solution there is not to read it
and find something better.

I also find that it helps to schedule a block of time for a particular
project. For example, I'm typesetting a book for some friends of mine. On my
calendar for yesterday evening was to put the chicken on to roast and then
typeset while it roasted until other friends came over for dinner at 7. The
broccoli and sweet potatos required some time, but not much focused attention,
so I could keep the state of the typesetting in my head while I did prep work
and then go back to it when things were cooking.

You also may be using up your capacity for certain kinds of thought (e.g.,
programming and mathematics) at work. Try a project that uses a different part
of your brain, such as drawing or writing fiction.

------
vlokshin
A few points that hopefully help, some have already been mentioned -- so take
the reiteration as reinforcement to their importance.

1) Exercise. I can't stress how much it helps to get a nice workout in 5
times/week and how much more energy you have throughout.

2) Get a sitting/standing desk. After I'm in the office all day, I don't want
to sit. I got one myself one of these: geekdesk.com and find a more constant
energy level after I get home, and I only use the sitting positions maybe 10%
of the time.

3) Turn off wifi or install a "site blocker" for time-wasters. I know this
sounds silly, but after a long day of work, twitter, FB, and HN all sound
OOHHH so pleasant to check, refresh, rinse, repeat. After an hour has passed,
an hour has been wasted.

4) Stop sending yourself articles. I did the same, but it ends up just piling
up. Put everything you do and read into manageable tasks that take <1 hour and
you'll be good.

5) Google seinfeld's productivity method. Another one of those "silly but it
works" things.

------
harrylove
1) Let go of the guilt of not being productive.

2) Let go of any other guilt or pressure to do something more valuable with
your time or improve something that you already know how to do.

3) Accomplish a small goal that is unrelated to your larger goal. The more
unrelated, the better. If your goal is to start a company, teach yourself
calligraphy instead or learn how to prune a fruit tree.

4) Once you're feeling good again, you know, where you feel good doing stuff
after your normal work, take a look at your original goal. Can you start
working on it again? Has the break given you a fresh perspective on it? Can
you break it down into small achievable chunks now?

5) If yes, do that. If no, go back to 1.

------
dmd149
I don't. I'm way too tired to do any work in the evening.

I've been most successful doing my side project work in the morning, before I
leave for my "real job."

I recommend getting up 2.5 hours before you have to leave for work. Take that
first half hour to shower, make coffee, and get set up to work on your side
project.

Do not start web browsing. Just go to your to-do list and start working on one
items.

Getting up early will only be difficult for maybe a week or two, then you'll
get used to it.

If you're still interested in doing "work" in the evening, use that time to
jot down some ideas in evernote and plan for the next morning. Don't force it.

------
danmaz74
Many people succeeded at this by going to bed early, waking up early and doing
their things (developing, learning, whatever) in the early morning. This way
you do so when you're still fresh!

~~~
lost-theory
I have to second this. I used to feel guilty about relaxing in the evening
after work. Now, I make a conscious decision to relax in the evening, go to
bed slightly earlier, and wake up in the morning to work on my side projects.

------
scottjohns
Things that work for me are:

\- Clean up the house first, having a clean space and already putting in some
work makes me more focused and productive.

\- Go for a +20min run. It takes that amount of time for your body to get into
the reset mode.

\- Take a cold shower, it also helps.

\- Eat well, i'd recommend tim ferriss's book "the 4-hour body", it keeps me
feeling great which in turn helps me do great work.

\- combine some multi-positives into your life. By that I mean, if you are
commuting that takes a while, listen to audio books or other material. While
you are cooking and have a home gym, combine the two and work out while you
cook.

\- I have experimented with "binaural beats", they are low sound frequencies
that help your brain get into concentration mode, relaxation mode, or even
deep sleep mode. I actually think they work.

\- 30min naps after lunch help. I find that right after lunch I am basically
useless so I use the time for fueling up.

\- Get the right kind of sleep, the deep REM sleep. The best sleep requires
two REM cycles a night (3.5hr - 4hr chunks). Take some magnesium before bed as
well.

\- do not drink wine or alcohol until it is wind down time at night, I find
that this kills my focused energy.

~~~
ashliana
All good suggestions, but I'd say just skip the alcohol if productivity is a
focus. Drinking alcohol in fairly close proximity to sleep will lead to less
restful sleep, and potentially set the Doer up for a less productive tomorrow.
Also, regular drinking of alcohol can mess with stress levels and natural
stress management, potentially impairing the ability for Doer to be calmly
productive. I recommend flavored seltzer water as an alternative. :)

------
bbwharris
It's odd, but just do and you will be productive. Start with something small
and watch it snowball. Before you know it you will get into it and not be able
to break away.

This is true with just about anything. Most of the time exercise doesn't seem
fun, but you get into it.

It's much easier to be a consumer than a producer. Avoid consumption and just
produce. You will gain far more slogging through it yourself than reading
about someone slogging through it.

------
ZanderEarth32
Like a lot of people, exercising right after work is what helps me. Diet seems
to help as well.

Timing of my caffeine is also critical. I usually try to have caffeine (2 shot
Americano) in the morning and something towards the end of my work day around
3, maybe a single Americano or some sugar free energy drink. Then by the time
I workout and get home I have a nice, sustainable stream of energy and can
focus. I run into problems with caffeine if I have it too close to the time I
really need to work. I get jittery and can't focus.

I also don't put too much pressure on myself. Some days I'll feel like working
and get a lot accomplished. Other days I don't, or can't be productive later
in the day, that's just life. No reason to beat myself up over it.

~~~
jonstjohn
Totally agree that caffeine can have a huge impact on energy.

I used to drink very strong coffee first thing in the morning (probably
equivalent 3-4 shots of espresso), be highly productive until mid-morning,
crash, have lunch, then do it again in the afternoon.

This cycle was terrible and eventually I broke it by reducing caffeine. Now I
drink green tea 3-4 times a day - a light boost without any of the accompanied
cratering. Takes at least a month to get used to, though.

------
ericelias
[from a my recent post - Go Pavlov Yourself]

This is my new technique to jumpstart the creating and coding during a long
arduous day. There is a sound, a bell, provided by an iPhone app. I am using
this bell to condition myself. Since we are humans and humans are
evolutionarily based, we can be conditioned just like the dog in Pavlov's lab.
We have willpower and self-control, but many times that innate power cannot be
wielded to avoid distractions. Therefore, let's use conditioning to reduce the
conscious decision and provide a signal that the mind can follow without
significant effort. Ding!

Ding. I sit down, close out all browser tabs. Open sublime, a blank Chrome
page, iterm2 and the requirements doc. Deep breath and go!

Now, practice ten times.

~~~
dylanhassinger
This is basically the technique described by the new book, 18 Minutes -
[http://www.amazon.com/18-Minutes-Master-Distraction-
Things/d...](http://www.amazon.com/18-Minutes-Master-Distraction-
Things/dp/0446583413)

------
alainbryden
I'm lucky enough to work a job where I get real enjoyment out of the coding I
do for a living, and a chance to self-teach and employ modern coding
practices. So the best way for me to unwind is to go home and watch some tv
shows, play some video games, work in the yard, and get caught up on whatever
happens to interest me in the media at the moment.

While I may not be doing to much to build my skill set and repertoire on my
personal time, it makes me feel like I'm doing a good job of balancing 'living
for today' and 'preparing for tomorrow'.

------
hobin
Here's a tip: don't try to be productive _all the time_. This leads to
mediocre performance, which is generally a bad thing. Instead, give your 100%
in everything you do, then when you're tired, RELAX! No articles. No small
stuff for work. Don't do any of that. Instead, recharge your batteries for,
say, tweny minutes, even taking a quick nap if you want to. Once you're
feeling rested, again give it your 100%.

Wash, rinse and repeat, and suddenly you're two times as productive. :)

------
JonnieCache
Wake up a bit earlier and do your reading then.

I find it easier to be "productive" after work if what I'm doing is very
different to the coding I do at work. I find it very difficult to sit down in
front of an editor on weekday evenings, but writing music (or poking at a
breadboard, etc) is easy, because it's a refreshing contrast to work. I mostly
do my recreational hacking at weekends.

Of course if your heart is set on programming for 18 hours of every day then
this doesn't apply.

------
dylanhassinger
What I find _most_ effective is, finding hacking buddies. Having someone else
around that is in focus mode is like pure energy. I try to find hack spots
that have other people working (but not too many people so as to be
distracting.)

Other tricks that keep me going as a solo freelancer:

* 100 Pushups Plan

* Paleo/Slow Carb Diet

* Clear Wireless Hub + an arsenal of coffee shops and all nite diners

* Podcasts (they help the solo programming time go by)

* High Quality Cannabis

* Adderall, but not too often. Once a week helps me out

* Getting the hell out of town when I get burnt out

------
xyzzyb
Tip #1: don't have kids. They are awesome, but complete side-projects
themselves and take up more time than a full-time job. :-)

Tip #2: do something and blog about it. What worked, what didn't work, what
tangents were useful? Post your updates back to whatever community you are
working in. The responses are fantastic encouragement and will drive your
productivity up.

~~~
flightblog
I agree more with Tip #2 then with #1, but both hold water. I have a 2 year
old and I'm more motivated now then ever when it comes to building my side
projects. However, I have ONE son and yes, he is a full-time job. Tip #2 is
really important...build and blog, build again and blog, keep building and
keep blogging.

~~~
xyzzyb
Yeah, #1 is based on my recent experience of adding a newborn to a four year
old. 1+1 is apparently 27

~~~
johnnyn
Totally. I'm about to add a newborn to a 2 year old. Getting up early is an
unrealistic option because I'm already up early with the kids. Working on side
projects after 9p works best for me. Kids are in bed at 7p or so, hang out
with the wife for a couple hours and wind down, then start on some projects. I
wonder if other fathers who work on side projects have similar schedules.

~~~
xyzzyb
My schedule is similar, except our four year old is now totally in bed asleep
around 8 - 8:30. Given that we wake up with the newborn around 4-6am that
doesn't leave a big time window for getting sleep and hanging out with the
wife and doing side projects.

Things will calm down in a few months I'm sure -- once the new one is sleeping
through the night.

------
jlengrand
Might be not applicable for you, but I have never had has much productive as
since I commute a lot.

I used to work 50-55h/w, and get home to do . . . nothing and see my
fanstastic ideas TODO list growing and growing.

For some time, I relocated and now have to commute almost 3 hours a day (with
2 hours of train). Now I work only 45h/w, but still have less time at home
than before .

Getting home at 8pm, I have to be really efficient to get things done at home
(chores, washing machines, cooking) and spend some time with my girlfriend.

This showed me that I had to be as much efficient as possible during those 3
hours, not to literally lose my life.

I use the train time to code as much as possible on pet projects and my TODO
list is melting down. I use the bus and walk time to read articles saved on my
phone using Paper/Instagram.

This to say that I think that necessity can make you more productive. You
don't have to start commuting :p, but perhaps put yourself in a close
environement for some time a day could be good practice.

------
peterkelly
This seems like a contradiction in terms. If it's "after work", why do you
want to be productive? If you're being productive, you're still working.

Or do you mean "after I finish my day job which I don't really like, how do I
find the focus and energy to work on my own, more interesting stuff
afterwards?"

If this is indeed your situation, here's what worked for me: find a way to
make a living from what you _really_ enjoy working on, and then quit your
current job and do that. I know it might sound impractical at first, but it
can be made to work, and it's the only way I've found to be truly happy in my
career. Screw 20% time - I want 100% time.

Also, as others have said, reading tech blogs != productivity. It's what I do
when I want to _stop_ working and take a short break. I've also found that
taking public transport to/from your place of work instead of driving (if this
is a practical option for you) is a good way to get time to do this kind of
stuff.

------
Kuiper
During my lunch break, I write an email to a friend with an interest in
whatever project I am working on. This email briefly conveys what I am going
to work on that evening, along with a promise to show them what I’ve completed
the following morning. The lunchtime email is always brief (usually <100
words), both for the sake of sender and the recipient. When I open my email
client after arriving home from work, the first thing waiting for me is
usually a brief message along the lines of "That’s cool, looking forward to
seeing the results." This is tremendously helpful in motivating me to begin
working.

Besides the productivity boost I get from my accountability partner, the act
of writing out the email (which condenses the scope of my work for that
evening into a few sentences) focuses my attention on whatever it is I'm
working on, and leaves me with something to chew on in the back of my mind
when the afternoon is growing late. By the end of the work day I'm already
eager to hit the ground running.

Several key things regarding courtesy and etiquette displayed to email
buddies: Firstly, the emails are targeted; I'm emailing people because I
genuinely believe they are interested in what I'm working on. These people can
be colleagues, fellow hobbyists, and students I've mentored. If I find myself
working on a project and have no one that I feel would be interested in it,
it's a sign of one of two things: either I need to expand my social network,
or perhaps the thing I'm working on isn’t really such a good use of my time.

Secondly, I don't take too much of their time. I expect them to spend maybe 10
minutes of their attention on the correspondence, and if they spend more time
than that it's because they were interested enough in what I was doing to
spend more time scrutinizing it. (It helps that my projects can usually be
presented visually, with a brief series of photographs that require very
little effort to digest.) I don't spend every night working on projects, and I
usually have 2-3 things that I’m working on at any given time, so each person
I maintain contact with gets an average of one email per week.

------
foobarram
@bking: I am glad you asked this question. I do exactly what you say: After my
regular 9-5 job, I work another 6 hours on my personal projects & I have been
asking myself how to increase efficiency in those 6 hours (because my personal
projects really matter to me the most). Recently, I have come up with a model
whereby, I work 6 hours after work, every alternate day. So, I'd do my 6 hours
on Monday, and then take a break on Tuesday after work - Id spend around 3
hours improving what I did on Monday (so, "no innovation" day). Those 3 hours
actually help a lot - I try and read docs/SoF, watch some stupid tv, spend
time with my gf and off to bed. I repeat this pattern every alternate days. To
be honest, this model seems to work. Thats my 2 cents.

------
septerr
This is the topmost thing on my mind! So many things to-do, ideas-to-work-on,
skills-to-acquire, commitments-to-keep. I end up debilitated by the mountain
of tasks and commitments. And an inferiority complex triggered by comparing
myself others doesn't help much! I am still figuring out how to manage my time
and enjoy my after-wrok-stuff instead of getting stressed by it.

What has worked best for me so far is getting to work soon after I get home
and committing the next 3 to 4 hours to it. Everything else (the dishes, the
daily run, the cooking, whatever) will have to wait until afterwards. This
ends up giving me a productive evening and happy glow.

------
Omnipresent
Try to be productive with the information you've consumed at work. If you read
an article about a technology then go home and try to scrape the surface of
the technology and write couple of paragraphs about it in your blog/journal.
From my experience, you should not be consuming any new information once you
get home (maybe in my case I consume a lot at work already). You might not be
able to consume as much with this practice, however, you'll put to practice
(understand) whatever you consume. Remember, learning the word doesn't matter,
understanding the definition does.

------
firichapo
I usually work from 8-5, go to the gym for half to an hour. Meditate for 15
minutes and put at least one hour into one of my projects.

The amount of time I put into my personal projects depend on if there is any
complex problems going on, I am just starting one or it's in maintenance mode.
But I always try to put at least one hour into them. I was hard to actually
find time for all of those things, but I finally managed to find a balance.

I must mentioned that as a big soccer/futbol fan the fact that all mayor
leagues are in off-season has boosted my productivity.

------
espinchi
To me, the opposite question is the hard one.

Since I've started using a tool to plan my activities in a weekly, and also in
a daily, basis, I've seen my productivity boost. I have separate task lists
for my day job, my side projects, and also personal stuff. I use Trello, and
Google Calendar for tasks that have a clear deadline, meetings, or
appointments.

It feels good to tick the "Done" box.

Also, I use a tool to track where I spend my time, so that I try to improve my
"time invested on productive activities" per week. I use Rescue Time for that.

------
darwindeeds
I went through a similar phase where I couldn't focus or do anything
productive. So I took a break from everything, did some lawn work, re-did my
home theater, got a new puppy :) After few weeks of break my partner and I got
back together to start things about ideas to work on and within a week we have
a list that we can pick from.

Before that I remember we spent weeks without one decent idea.

On a side note, puppy is a lot of fun but she will poop and pee all over the
house until housebroken :)

Good Luck

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kracekumar
Same is the case with me. In work I don't get to code but my work involves
around support. I love programming. Once I get back from home I always make
sure I read tweets of smart people, read hackerne.ws, reddit, quora and
mailing list.

As a result of this I get excited to find some thing interesting out of the
above mentioned and start working on my own ideas.

Simple keep following and get updates about people whom consider smart and get
to know what they are upto, this pushes you.

~~~
bking
I definitely need to start following some more of my influencers, and probably
reduce from some of the static noise. Thanks for the tip!

------
chpolk
It can definitely be difficult trying to make significant progress on a side
project while working a full-time job. I usually try to plan out my day after
work and get whatever chores done that would get in the way of me being able
to come back, eat, and spend an hour or so relaxing before starting on my side
project. I try to spend 1-2 hours of solid, focused time working on my side
project (which is often difficult if I'm tired).

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yayagoose
Have a transition activity after work to get yourself ready for your personal
project. This could be yoga or a short run, or even meditation. Or a meal
where you're not multitasking.

If you aren't taking classes, fix your after-work sked as though you have
classes. Dedicate a night or two (or more) for your project.

Make sure you have time for leisure and other activities to avoid burnout or
resenting your involvement in your project.

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neves
Just a small tip. I've stopped to read articles — I'm looking at you HN! — at
work or at my desktop computer. I just bought a Kindle and use the Instapaper
or Readability "Send to kindle" feature. Then I read at my sofa, bed or
commuting. It increases my focus, I read faster, killed my happy clicking of
other useless junk, and make me associate my desktop to a place to work.

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andrewdumont
I too tend to work on side projects after work, and I usually do so at a
coffee shop. I've tried to be productive at home, but always end up turning on
the TV in the background or making dinner. Going straight to a coffee shop
usually keeps me in the same state of mind that I was during work.

Downside, no dinner. :)

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gkoberger
I work from home a few days a week.

As an introvert, both working and talking to people tires me mentally by the
end of the day.

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bsphil
I don't. If I was, I'd still be at work. I have more interests in life than
working.

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benblodgett
I quit my 9-5 to work on a startup. I make sure to start and end my day
(whatever hours that might be) with reading. It is relaxing and stimulating,
gives me inspiration and shuts my mind off when necessary.

------
Kaizyn
You might try shifting your reading to the early morning before work.

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brlewis
I talk with users. That keeps me motivated to move things forward.

~~~
ovi256
You are in a privileged situation! You have advanced farther than 99% of
others and _have_ users!

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amykhar
I gave up television except for two nights a week. Doing that gave me the time
and motivation to work on online classes and to work on side projects.

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agscala
Work on a project that you find interesting. If you find that you have trouble
focusing on a project after work, maybe you simply aren't enjoying it.

~~~
AHorihuela
I completely agree with this.

I work at an investment bank, which means my workday starts at 6:30am and
don't usually get home until 8 or 9pm. However, I still manage to come home
and work (or play, really) on other projects.

Having interesting projects to work on (as opposed to articles to read) makes
a tremendous difference on personal motivation.

Work on something you are interested in and this won't be a problem.

------
DaNetSurfer
Watch a science-fiction movie, or Nat Geo series. These could generate my work
enthusiasm as well as motivation for a period of time.

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symmet
I know this isn't your main question, but you should really check out
Instapaper.com for saving articles to read later.

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crusso
Stop reading HN and get to work on your project. :)

------
ahalan
cycling

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richbradshaw
What is this "after work" you speak of?

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closedbracket
drink coffee; use Pivotal Tracker, don't check email.

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ritratt
by not wasting my productivity at work...XD

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kahawe
I think what you are asking is not how to be more motivated but how to work
much more than 40 hours a week on a regular basis, namely on your 9-5 AND your
personal projects... if I was you, I would be very careful not to overload
yourself and quickly drift into a burn-out! Just because it's projects you
might actually enjoy more than your 9-5 does not make it easier on your brain
and body - it is still mental work, it is still sitting at your desk and it
might even be more challenging then your 9-5 because you are likely working on
mostly new things.

I think what you are experiencing, being reluctant to work more on your
personal projects, is your body telling you you are tired and should be more
worried about resting and doing something completely different. And set time
outside your 9-5 days for your personal projects, why not focus it on the
weekends or start a 4x10 schedule and use the Friday or Monday for personal
stuff?

~~~
bking
I hadn't thought about it in that way before, and I appreciate the differing
thought process!

------
Morg
Reading is not being productive - or I'm being really productive without
producing anything.

Anyway I read at work and at home, but I have trouble working on my own stuff
sometimes.

~~~
khyryk
I'd say that based on the usage of that word, it depends. Parents would
consider children doing their homework relatively productive even though
they're not really producing anything.

Reading increases my ability to concentrate for long periods of time (yes,
really), gives me topics for discussion, etc., which apply to many areas of my
life, including those related to actual production. Am I being unproductive
when I, for instance, learn Scala without the intent of ever releasing the
practice code that I've made?

~~~
Morg
Indeed, it's more my personal current state > i read too much and do not
produce enough, I do learn a lot but that's not enough to keep me satisfied.

