Productivity isn't something that can be forced; there's some good books out there on the subject. The 'grueling work' you described (and likewise) remind me of Stephen Covey's quadrants [1] (and similar); being in one quadrant (grueling work being 'urgent but not important') too much will cause someone to go to another for escape (not important, non-urgent tasks; distractions). It's important to find a balance there, for both personal planning and if you're a resource planner / project manager / scrum master / whatever
http://sidsavara.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/merrillcovey...