I never allow myself to sleep more than 8 hours. It just seems like such a waste when that is plenty. Multiple hours just laying unconscious with no actual benefit makes me nervous for some reason.
Switched jobs. No longer on call doing DevOps means I can focus on each task knowing I'm not going to have to drop everything and work on a technical issue off hours.
In a similar vein; I quit my job and started my company. The number of empty hours I spent trying to be/look busy at work was astounding. When it was my own company, my work ethic became more sensibly based on actual output, rather than perceived output.
I ditched my smartphone and opted for a dumb phone instead. For me, having a smartphone made my distractibility even worse than it naturally is (I have ADD). Also, I no longer hear the siren call of the internet calling to me everywhere I go.
Was it hard to make the transition? I wish I could get rid of my smart phone, but I'm so dependent on lyft, my gps, etc, that it's hard to separate the addictive parts from the parts that are really useful.
Well, I have a Garmin for GPS (which is arguably inferior but it's fine) and I don't live in an big city so we don't have Uber or Lyft here anyway. I can see how for some people it is a requirement to have a smartphone - esp if you need to be constantly tethered to your email (dev ops etc...)
so the trick is not ditching your device access to online stuff, but your physical access. without a cellphone in big urban centers you'd have a tough time moving around. well, I would.
public transport in big us cities are broken down by little cities, which any European would call neighbourhood... and parking in sf and ny is impractical. now you have to know how to transfer between several buses routes, or even if you decide to just take a cab, you must know the cab number for the company for that specific little region you find yourself at. I can't imagine not having a phone with a browser to navigate this mess, obviously designed to limit mobility.
I switched to an iPhone SE recently and it seems to be the best of both worlds. Uber, GPS, and internet are there if I need them, but that tiny screen makes aimless browsing much less tempting.
I am extremely tempted to do this, but I also benefit from simple positive features like contact syncing, notes, grocery list syncing, calendar syncing, and a few other utilities.
I've decided to try one of those micro-smartphones, hoping the small screen will be fine for calendars but miserable for email & web surfing.
Sometimes I think what I really need is WiFi but no data. Sync on the nightstand, but no data connectivity out and about.
Huh I'd think Android would suck up 10MB in minutes doing random useless stuff. No ability to turn mobile data completely off for all BUT one or two apps.
I have to carry a smartphone for work. Removing or disabling distractions can still make a big difference. Uninstalling games and social media apps, disabling Google Now's feed and disabling most push notifications helps me.
Don't think about productivity because it will introduce yourself to mental stresses that will derail your productivity. For a few simple things I have some ideas.
- Do small changes
- Break apart what you have to do
- Realize what you can't do and instead do something you can.
Strange. I found that my children have caused me to be much more disciplined, productive, and organized. It's just that much of my energy now goes toward raising good kids.
Trying to work more than full days (e.g. long days at work, volunteering or moonlight consulting) while constantly getting woken up in the night can be really hard.
I had to give up a lot of my volunteering after I got kids.
I'm also really happy I took the effort to teach my kids to sleep through the night.
Being in a relationship. When single, I would spend time & money on dating apps and going out. Now that time is spent with her at home where we can read, work on side projects and just be productive.
I started taking L-Theanine with my coffee in the morning. It's been about a month now and I find myself having incredible focus when I need to throughout the day.
What are specfic benefits L-Theanine gives you? I've read that L-Theanine is more of a relaxant that counteracts the anxiety casuing effects of caffiene, so I can't really see how it helps you focus.
It helps me get into the "flow state" where I can work on just one thing and dive deep into it without thinking of all the other things I have to do or want to do.
Serving in the army (and actually going to war, which is a nightmare, for a brief period):
1. It helps you get discipline right, and care less about "productivity" and "motivation" - you just do stuff.
2. It teaches you that your reserves and powers are limited, and priorities are an hourly grind of making the right choices.
3. It teaches you to stay sharp all the time, no matter what your body tells you to feel.
Not that I've mastered any of these, but even small hints I've picked up really changed my life before/after spending 6 months in pre-field training and a year in field (I was officer-in-reserve before, but it teaches you knowledge, not skill).
The two friends I know who went to war had to shove dead kids into trucks. One is a functioning alcoholic and the other is a recluse whose nickname has "drugz" in it. Good luck with that as a self-motivating strategy.
Went to my doctor for the first time about what turned out to be undiagnosed/untreated comorbid depression and ADHD. I was apprehensive and avoided it for years but it's easily been one of the best decisions I've ever made. I was losing so much time to the vicious cycle of not wanting to do anything but lay in bed, then feeling crappy that I wasn't doing anything, then trying to focus but constantly geting distracted for several hours, then feeling crappy about all of that and just wanting to go back to bed. (And obviously, I have seen enormous improvements in my overall mental health and well-being, not just productivity. But it turns out that not feeling like crap most of the time also makes you a much more productive developer.)
For me, it started with an antidepressant (escitalopram, commonly called Lexapro) and weekly visits with a therapist. The escitalopram did wonders for my particular depression. I have dysthymia (also called persistent depressive disorder, I forget which is the official name now) which means I experience ongoing, low-level daily melancholy (as opposed to clinical depression/major depression, which is much more episodic in nature -- you have weeks you just can't get out of bed or eat, and you have weeks when you're pretty much fine). So for me, escitalopram did a ton to even out my daily melancholy and limit mood swings -- I still have good and bad days but my baseline is much closer to neutral rather than consistently feeling down in the dumps.
And then as I talked to my therapist over time she uncovered symptoms of ADHD that I'd never really thought about. There's a lot of debate about whether adult-onset ADHD exists, but her perspective (which seems very accurate in my case) is that people with "adult-onset" ADHD have actually had it their entire lives as well, but they had better coping mechanisms so it wasn't diagnosed at a young age. I was always a good student, rarely got in trouble, could sit still in the classroom -- but I had a terrible time trying to focus on work, I fidget constantly, I always have multiple trains of thought in my head. I'm just also a pretty fast worker and fairly smart so I was able to be unfocused and put things off to the last second but eventually lock it in just in time to beat the deadline. My therapist administered a diagnostic test (basically a multiple choice test asking about how often I experience X, Y, and Z, and a similar test sent to a close friend to be completed separately about their perceptions of me) and it turned out that I do have ADHD. So she started me on Ritalin which has also helped me immensely. I'm able to focus and be productive on a regular basis (rather than in brief but manic spurts) and it also helps my overall mood, because I'm not constantly getting down on myself for being unable to focus on something important. (That's what it means for my ADHD/depression to be "comorbid" -- they feed into each other.)
It's worth noting that this is just my particular combination of neurodivergences and treatment plan. Different people experience success with different treatments, including various medications, ongoing/regular talk therapy, lifestyle changes, etc. But the one constant is that I've never met a single person whose life has gotten worse because they talked to someone about their mental health. It's a lifelong journey but in my experience the needle only moves in one direction and it starts with opening up to someone.
If you don't mind me asking: What kind of doctor did you see? What do you say when you want to make an appointment?
Lately I've been wanting to talk to a doctor, but I get very hung up on who I need to see and how to kick off the conversation about how I've been feeling.
I just went to see a general family doctor originally. I made the appointment by saying that I hadn't been in for a checkup in a while and wanted to establish a relationship with a general practitioner (for me it felt even more difficult to talk about being depressed with a random secretary). Then when I went in for the appointment I told the doctor I was there because I'd been depressed for a while and it had gotten bad enough that I wanted to see about treatment options. She was kind and professional from there, recommending me to a therapist in the practice and getting me set up with an appointment. It seems like a huge mountain from this side of things but at least from my doctor's reaction, this is hardly a rare occurrence and they know how to help you without making you feel like a burden or a crazy person or something (which is what I feared before I went in).
Ditched multiplayer roleplaying games: I found I was mostly playing these games out of desperation for meaningful interaction and chatting. Though I've replaced that with Discord servers now, so perhaps I should cut that out too.
Same! I replaced it with Manga, read a couple chapters in my downtime or during meals. You'd the surprised the depth of these, they are usually well written, basically an ongoing book.
I just came to terms with the fact that I work 100 times better with external motivation. Worked in school, works at the job, needed to find a way to make it work in personal life.
That's been a lot harder - still not good at it. Best I can do is announce things to people beforehand and then work at it as opposed to not working on it and risk appearing all talk.
I'm still working on finding internal motivation - but this is bridging the gap for now.
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public transport in big us cities are broken down by little cities, which any European would call neighbourhood... and parking in sf and ny is impractical. now you have to know how to transfer between several buses routes, or even if you decide to just take a cab, you must know the cab number for the company for that specific little region you find yourself at. I can't imagine not having a phone with a browser to navigate this mess, obviously designed to limit mobility.
Deleting my native Facebook app did me wonders. I can always use the website if I really want to but I naturally visit less frequently
I've decided to try one of those micro-smartphones, hoping the small screen will be fine for calendars but miserable for email & web surfing.
Sometimes I think what I really need is WiFi but no data. Sync on the nightstand, but no data connectivity out and about.
Edit: This is from a Kickstarter - Super cheap and fits the bill https://www.amazon.com/Unihertz-Smallest-Smartphone-Android-...
I only have 10MB data / month. Perfectly sufficient for chat and the rare emergencies.
Taken from this thread on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/getdisciplined/comments/1q96b5/i_ju...
- Do small changes
- Break apart what you have to do
- Realize what you can't do and instead do something you can.
Ah, the trial-by-fire approach to streamlining your life.
Also: had a baby, realized that my death is a certainty and that I need to make my dreams come true RIGHT NOW.
1) I HATE Running and I would run 3 miles a day around a 1/4 track 5 days a week. I could stop at anytime and just did it.
2) I fasted breakfast and lunch once a week. Just drank water period.
This was awesome then I got married and have kids. I am the most undisciplined self I have ever known and less productive.
>I am the most undisciplined self I have ever known and less productive.
Are you saying this is a result of marriage+kids or 1&2 above?
Check that you get enough sleep.
Trying to work more than full days (e.g. long days at work, volunteering or moonlight consulting) while constantly getting woken up in the night can be really hard.
I had to give up a lot of my volunteering after I got kids.
I'm also really happy I took the effort to teach my kids to sleep through the night.
1. It helps you get discipline right, and care less about "productivity" and "motivation" - you just do stuff. 2. It teaches you that your reserves and powers are limited, and priorities are an hourly grind of making the right choices. 3. It teaches you to stay sharp all the time, no matter what your body tells you to feel.
Not that I've mastered any of these, but even small hints I've picked up really changed my life before/after spending 6 months in pre-field training and a year in field (I was officer-in-reserve before, but it teaches you knowledge, not skill).
Stopped setting alarms for getting up in the moring.
And then as I talked to my therapist over time she uncovered symptoms of ADHD that I'd never really thought about. There's a lot of debate about whether adult-onset ADHD exists, but her perspective (which seems very accurate in my case) is that people with "adult-onset" ADHD have actually had it their entire lives as well, but they had better coping mechanisms so it wasn't diagnosed at a young age. I was always a good student, rarely got in trouble, could sit still in the classroom -- but I had a terrible time trying to focus on work, I fidget constantly, I always have multiple trains of thought in my head. I'm just also a pretty fast worker and fairly smart so I was able to be unfocused and put things off to the last second but eventually lock it in just in time to beat the deadline. My therapist administered a diagnostic test (basically a multiple choice test asking about how often I experience X, Y, and Z, and a similar test sent to a close friend to be completed separately about their perceptions of me) and it turned out that I do have ADHD. So she started me on Ritalin which has also helped me immensely. I'm able to focus and be productive on a regular basis (rather than in brief but manic spurts) and it also helps my overall mood, because I'm not constantly getting down on myself for being unable to focus on something important. (That's what it means for my ADHD/depression to be "comorbid" -- they feed into each other.)
It's worth noting that this is just my particular combination of neurodivergences and treatment plan. Different people experience success with different treatments, including various medications, ongoing/regular talk therapy, lifestyle changes, etc. But the one constant is that I've never met a single person whose life has gotten worse because they talked to someone about their mental health. It's a lifelong journey but in my experience the needle only moves in one direction and it starts with opening up to someone.
Lately I've been wanting to talk to a doctor, but I get very hung up on who I need to see and how to kick off the conversation about how I've been feeling.
That is: they'll forward you to a specialist who is also a doctor and that person will then diagnose you.
That's been a lot harder - still not good at it. Best I can do is announce things to people beforehand and then work at it as opposed to not working on it and risk appearing all talk.
I'm still working on finding internal motivation - but this is bridging the gap for now.