My productivity techniques

I was really productive in summer 2020, at a time when lots of people said they were struggling with productivity. And it's something I used to struggle a lot with too.

Not only did these techniques help when there were serious things to take care of, but they also helped a lot with being happier and less bored with free time.

I had previously heard about, thought of, and tried a lot of these things before. Often I would find something helpful, but then soon be having difficulty again. So why was I able to do so well for so long this time? I think it's from the combination of the different techniques put together, so there are fewer gaps in the system. And that includes learning how to handle new gaps as they come up.

Getting proper sleep was also important. I got up at the same time every day, and if I stayed up too late, it made things noticeably harder the next day.

Problem solving
The real foundation for my productivity is problem solving

The alarms are a solution to various problems

The Devjournal is more than a solution, it is a tool to help find solutions, etc.

I write about how to do problem solving elsewhere on my wiki

Problem: not knowing what to do
Solution: treat figuring out what to do as itself the thing to do. Brainstorm, learn what other people do, think of goals/things you like, what options are possible to do, everything you need to do, etc.

Problem:  feeling like stuff is too big to do
Solution: break it into smaller and smaller pieces, until you find something you can do right away.

Problem:  low feelings of motivation despite knowing you need to do something
Solution: it's usually easy to set a timer, and just see whatever little amount of progress you can do in that time, no pressure to do anything quickly, no pressure to finish anything, and let yourself have free time when the alarm goes off even if you didn't get anything done. And remember: usually after you do a tiny bit, it's easier to do more.

Having the alarms already set every day makes it even easier, you don't even have to tell yourself to start, the alarm will tell you to start.

Problem:  feeling guilty (about not being productive)
Solution:  clearly split time for productivity and free time, don't count slacking off during productivity time as taking up free time, don't feel the need to catch up during free time.

Don't have to be productive starting right at the alarm, nor all the way until the next alarm. Any productivity counts. And remember: usually after you do a tiny bit, it's easier to do more.

Alarms
I would have a few alarms set throughout the day, snooze duration 20 minutes

So I would do 20 minutes of work and 20 minutes of leisure

Checklists and Journaling
I used text documents and folders

Kinda starts with my main general journal


 * List things to do
 * Make a journal for anything that needs it
 * Again for that topic, outline the things to do
 * Make a journal for the first/next item on the list
 * Any time there is a problem, mark down a break in that journal, and create a new one to solve the problem before coming back.

break down into baby steps, one-way ratchet analogy, ad-hoc-first method I used to add stuff to my programming project with unlimited scope, check out the checklist manifesto

Lists can be:


 * Different unrelated things to do in the same day
 * Sequential steps to accomplish something
 * A set of criteria to meet