[kichuku]

I too second the recommendation for "Deep Work" by Carl Newport (http://calnewport.com/books/deep-work/ ). This is one book which is a must-read for all the current generation technology workers like us. I started reading this book about two weeks back and I have finished reading 90% of the book. Already I am seeing tremendous improvement in my day-to-day life.

[shoover]

Yep. This book develops a solid basis for why this matters and offers many practical techniques for implementation, including seriously questioning whether each and every online service you visit is truly required to support your work and who you are, and ditching the ones that aren't.

A key tip from the book is to practice building resistance to caving. Set a time limit for the next time you will check. However short that limit needs to be is fine; the key is to build resistance and extend it. The book argues you need to maintain this ability to resist during off hours, too. It's fine to have long sessions of surfing online and do it more often than during work, but continuing to set limits and resist the urge to just grab it and check is important for not losing everything you may have built up during the day or week.

There is a whole section and recurring theme on the finite, depletable nature of willpower and the end to set up a routine to build habits to protect your willpower reserves. It's very tactical.

I found the many examples of real people applying the principles to their personal situations inspirational, such as from the author himself, professor colleagues, Carl Jung, Don Knuth, and various business and tech folks he interviewed.

[bitexploder]

Cal Newport (not Carl) -- just in case anyone is searching by author.

Thirded. Read his book. Do what he says.

[sidcool]

Just bought the book.

[bitexploder]

Neat. It is one of that books that really helped me change my habits. I don't think there is anything revolutionary in there for the average knowledge worker, but the presentation is compelling and it offers very practical advice and examples. I often think we "know" a lot of things that are good and work well, but without picking some of those good things we "know" and just working them and doing them "knowing" that stuff doesn't help. Books like this offer a practical framework to narrow the scope of the doing and can surpass the mental hurdles to commit to things you already "know" or have a good idea about.

[chasely]

Cal also did a recent podcast with Ezra Klein (formerly of Washington Post and now leading Vox) about his book and the ideas behind it [0].

I'm skeptical of most "self-help" and business books but Deep Work was helpful for me and I come back to the book any time I feel myself slipping. I admit I may be biased towards his work since he is a theoretical CS professor [1] who happens to write books about work and productivity.

[0] https://soundcloud.com/panoply/cal-newport-on-doing-deep-wor...

[1] https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EhodjeAAAAAJ&hl=en

[nequalstim]

that book is incredibly good! Especially, since he earned enough street credibility as a Computer Science professor compared to other self-help/productivity/life coach gurus

[kichuku]

The exact answer to your question is explained in this book and Carl calls it as "Deep Work".