Ask HN: How to do intensive mental work without long chunks of free time?

5 points by kovek 9y ago ↗ HN

Those of you who work on side projects whenever you find a short bit of free time, how do you do it? How can you do deep/intensive mental work when you do not have long chunks of time available without distractions?

I recently started doing two things:

- clocking in and out of some small tasks in my org files

- run a small app that will make a sound every three minutes. It reminds me to or be working towards my goals or take a short break (3 to 6 minutes) from too much work (which aligns with my goals).

2 comments

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f_allwein 9y ago ↗

you might consider the Pomodoro technique, i.e. working in chunks of 25 minutes with 100% focus, then taking a 5 minute break. http://pomodorotechnique.com

shakna 9y ago ↗

Depends on the project.

I have a small notebook with me, always. Anytime I have five minutes, I review what I did last, and look to expand on it.

It generally takes me about six months for the idea to be fully formed and detailed. And usually less than that to implement the idea, because of the groundwork I've laid.

Now, if it's meant to be a profitable side project, that startup time isn't always acceptable. The pomodoro method might fit better.