Need some time management/distraction elimination advice/readings

[ObviouslyNotAGolfer]

I work exclusively at home since the pandemic and likely will not return to work until August 2021 at earliest. Even then, I am probably looking at 2-3 days a week in person, as things have changed due to the pandemic--for the better in some respects! I enjoy not having to commute, but I do miss the peace and relatively distraction-free environment of my comfortable office at work.

At home, I get all of my work done in due time, but I find that the hours fly by and I wonder where the time has gone. Recently, with several weeks off, I have started cutting waaaay down on internet activity, especially reading news magazines, blogs, and forums too. All of these are a huge distraction and time sink. And they are always an excuse to procrastinate (let me just check the news/email/blog before I get back to work).

Even with several weeks off, I still find that I am at a loss as to where the time goes. Outside of my work as university faculty, I have time-intensive hobbies and other professional activities (including the losing battle of trying to keep up with the literature in my field). I have a huge pile of new CDs here that I have barely listened to...And this is when I usually get caught up on this type of thing!

One thing I have found is that when I get away from the web, time seems to slow way down. The web seems like a huge time suck in this regard, but it is very difficult to get away, given that so much of what I do for work and leisure involves the web.

We usually take a 3-4 vacations/trips a year to escape the horror of living in Southern California, but we had to cancel two this year due to the pandemic. I feel that this has actually contributed to a lack of productivity and focus. (although I feel no need to "justify" vacations based on an increase of productivity or any other such corporatist nonsense...)

I am looking for books, readings, advice on optimizing use of time, scheduling, eliminating distractions (more of a problem at home than at the office), and getting more done. Setting things up so as to avoid relying on will power is the way to go, because, I, like anyone, have only so much of it! Thanks.

[lazycow]

I am a procrastinator of the highest order but reading BJ Fogg's "Tiny Habits" changed my life for the better and I am finally getting stuff done. The main point is that one can do anything for just 2 minutes on a daily basis. So I now find 2 minutes (but it usually is much longer once I am there) to practise the piano, do yoga, meditate (started that again this year), read a classic novel, garden, tidy/clean the house, knit/sew/crochet. Nothing work-related as I only work casually.

I got much more out of it than "Atomic Habits" by James Clear and "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg.

[ObviouslyNotAGolfer]

Thanks. I agree about the "The Power of Habit". I think it was a huge bore--could have been distilled into maybe 25 pages.

However, I really enjoyed Scott Adams' (Dilbert creator) book: How to fail at almost everything and still win big

[cool7hand]

Check out Gretchen Rubin's work.

On a more fundamental level, you might consider checking out the Tony Robbins TED talk on the 6 human needs? Which are your primary needs out of the 6? How to you channel them into more purpose?

[Blackeagle]

You might want to look at either time blocking (using your calendar to set aside blocks of time dedicated to certain tasks) or the Pomodoro technique (setting a timer for 25-minute sprints of work with predefined breaks in between).  I find the former works better for me, but some folks gravitate more towards the latter.

As far as books, take a look at Deep Work by Cal Newport.

[hooplady]

You might want to look at either time blocking (using your calendar to set aside blocks of time dedicated to certain tasks) or the Pomodoro technique (setting a timer for 25-minute sprints of work with predefined breaks in between).  I find the former works better for me, but some folks gravitate more towards the latter.

As far as books, take a look at Deep Work by Cal Newport.

I second Cal Newport, I enjoy his blog as well. He purposely doesn't post that often so it's not something you need to check obsessively.

[slowsynapse]

I still love the book Getting Things Done by David Allen. It falls in the time management category. I know I don't implement it as well as I should but it helped me a lot in how I choose what to do next and how to quickly clean small items that used to really bog me down.

[CodingHare]

You might want to look at either time blocking (using your calendar to set aside blocks of time dedicated to certain tasks) or the Pomodoro technique (setting a timer for 25-minute sprints of work with predefined breaks in between).  I find the former works better for me, but some folks gravitate more towards the latter.

As far as books, take a look at Deep Work by Cal Newport.

CTRL-F Deep Work

Thirding, I really like his approach.  Although, OP it sounds like your issue might be that you get into a state of flow for hours at a time?

Other suggestions: Pomodoro is a classic. 25 minutes of work, 5 minutes of break, do three or four pomodoros and then take a longer break.  It might help you actually check in with what you are doing to make sure you don't just get lost for hours, because you have a built in time to check in that you are spending your time well.

There are apps that contractors use to track their time for billing, like Toggl.  I use a custom solution, but it really does help to set up some categories and get a nice report of what you spent your time on!  (I don't use it for my leisure time, but you totally could.)

[Blackeagle]

There are apps that contractors use to track their time for billing, like Toggl.  I use a custom solution, but it really does help to set up some categories and get a nice report of what you spent your time on!  (I don't use it for my leisure time, but you totally could.)

If the OP wants to go for time tracking, one trick I learned from CGP Grey via the Cortex podcast is to have a timer for "unintentional time".  When you realize you just spent two hours browsing the web when you meant to do something else, log that time as unintentional.  The idea is to keep that number as low as possible and the fact that you have to record it can itself be a deterrent to spending your time unintentionally. 

More broadly speaking, I think that framing things in terms of intentional/unintentional rather than productive/unproductive can be really helpful in being productive while maintaining a healthy balance in life.  There's nothing wrong with saying, "I need a break, I'm going to spend the next hour watching Youtube videos".  What you want to avoid is finding you've spent the past hour watching Youtube without having made an intentional decision to.