[jlbribeiro]

I know your first 2 points too well.

Most people would advise you to, calmly, break the task at hand into small tasks/steps. Personally, my problem is that the tasks are too high level (maybe an epic), which makes them overwhelming. By breaking them into easy-to-do-steps that forces you to plan your solution (1st point) and understand the problem (2nd point). You should break them into SMART goals (you've probably heart about this concept already). By having a list of really really small items you get a feeling of progress every time you tick an item off the list; that progress should keep you going! Starting is the hardest part, there's some inertia to it; so make the item so small you'll have no excuse not to do it. Remember: if you still feel confused about an item/urged to procrastinate you probably didn't break it down enough.

The sensation of ticking off items is what should get you going; that's what gives you the sensation of progress and that enables the feedback loop. Physically ticking off the item (pen and paper) is even better. So actually write your list (on paper or digitally using Trello, Todoist, etc.), don't just "think it"; that's key.

Meditation is also good to sharpen your focus.

P.S.: I'm also a procrastinator; there are good days and there are bad days; there's no cure. This is the kind of thing that is managed.

[gtirloni]

I still couldn't find a method for the worst source of procrastination for me: not having a clear understanding of where a task fits in the global picture or end goal. That coupled with highly abstract tasks kills my productivity completely.

In all my jobs, I've tried to ask more and more questions but I have come to the conclusion that few people have an answer for that. I suspect my experience hasn't been great on that front.

On the other hand, when the why's are clear, I don't have any trouble working at full speed to accomplish that goal (and will often put way more hours than I should).

Just writing this reply made me think I'm also often more productive when what I'm working on will be used by others or it solves a pressing issue. If it's just a "nice to have" I will have trouble focusing (after I realize nobody cares about the results, until then I might be working super motivated and unaware).

[acomar]

> Most people would advise you to, calmly, break the task at hand into small tasks/steps.

Yea, this seems to be the biggest takeaway from what everyone is saying here. I've tried to do this in the past and found that I don't do a good job of managing the list -- at some point, I'll just forget to add things to it or mark things off when I'm done; it's easier to just do them, right? But you're right, this is the right answer, if for no other reason than that it forces me to organize my thoughts, something I've noticed I'm bad at.

> You should break them into SMART goals (you've probably heart about this concept already).

Yea, I think this is key. When I do write a list, it's usually too abstract or in way too large chunks. What I'm trying now: put those large things down at the start of the day, then break them down when I decide to tackle that 'project'. I shouldn't start working until I've made the effort to break things down into atomic steps.

> Physically ticking off the item (pen and paper) is even better.

You know, I've never tried this... I'll give it a shot and see if that goes better than a list in vim.

> Meditation is also good to sharpen your focus.

Exactly how I narrowed down the vague feeling of 'agh, too much to do' in the first place :)

[whiteandnerdy]

I had a similar experience, but I think I've cracked this now. For me the two significant changes were developing a friction-free tracking system, and motivating myself to use it reliably.

For the tracking system, I use Bullet Journalling. You might not need the full power of the bullet journal, but I'd recommend whatever system you do use has the following properties: * You have a 'backlog' to-do list and a 'daily' to-do list. * Every day you copy a subset of the backlog into your daily and cross it off the backlog. Tick things off the daily as you do them. * Daily items should take under an hour, or else you need to break them up into smaller tasks (or alternatively specify "two pomodoros of work on X" as an action) * Whenever you want to track something that doesn't have to be done today, add it to the backlog. * Rewrite your daily list every day. This penalises overcommitting. Moving stuff back to the backlog is allowed, as is dropping stuff. * Rewrite your backlog every month so you can garbage-collect stuff you no longer care about. * Use a hardbound journal to contain all your lists. Bits of paper get lost or messy, and computer tracking is much harder to stick to for some reason. (For me my tracking system has to be distinct from the place I do work, so can't be digital)

Motivation:

The thing that really worked for me here was operant conditioning. Every time you tick off a task, eat a small candy (like an M&M). Every day when you write out your dailies, eat a candy. For everything you want to train yourself to do, eat a candy when you do it. Big tasks get two or three candies.

It's kind of depressing that this is more effective than willpower, but it builds good associations and trains your brain to associate productivity with reward, promoting that dopamine kick. If candy isn't a motivator for you, substitute some other small reward - ideally something you don't indulge in otherwise - but make sure the reward comes immediately after the good behaviour or you won't get the reinforcement.

Hope that's helpful. Productivity tips are very individual, so I don't know whether this will work for you or not.

[redpanda_ua]

> a list in vim

I love your style though.

[criddell]

What type of meditation works well for you? Have you tried Calm or Headspace? Any opinions on that type of guidance?

[ivm]

Headspace is a classic Samadhi+Vipassana meditation wrapped into casual language. I used it a bit for a couple of years and it's a great intro into the practice before going guideless.

I also highly recommend "Mindfulness in plain English"[0], I wish I found it sooner.

[0]: https://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-English-Bhante-Henepola-G...

[criddell]

Thanks for the link. That's exactly what I was hoping for.

Maybe if my mind was quieter, Amazon pricing the Kindle version higher than the print version wouldn't enragiate me so much. :)