| In order of impact: * Stop looking for "opportunities" until I need one. This means entertaining recruiters, personal branding, networking, coupons/free stuff, freelance sites, side projects, meeting sales people. 80% of errands I didn't want came from this. The only exception is helping people who ask for help. * Getting the hardest thing done a day. Sometimes this means getting rest and sleeping at 9 PM. * If it feels bad to the point I rant for nights to my wife about it, get rid of it. Fire that guy, send that email, yell at the boss, quit that job, destroy that rival. Sometimes it costs me all my daily willpower to do this one thing, and I end up too tired to do anything else. It's always worth it. * Focus days. Basically these totally monastic days, where I stay away from all entertainment and think on a problem, except for family time. You know that moment you get an idea in the shower? When avoiding all entertainment, you get that moment all day, and it wanders off to something useful, not about how to optimize my build for a game. * Never directly working past 6 PM. Daydreaming about work is fine but don't write anything. * Getting 7 hours of sleep a night. 1 extra hour of sleep allowed 2 more hours of difficult work. * L-Theanine * Exercise regularly in mornings. * Disposable prototypes. If I feel unsure if something could be done or unsure how to do it, build something that will be disposed later. Forcing myself to throw it away also keeps me from adding stuff I don't actually need and keeps me from paralyzing perfectionism. * Don't emotionally focus on something. Bad things hurt, but focus on getting back up or away from the pain. Don't let it distract. * Yes, fear/depression/anger increase productivity 500%. But the side effects are very bad. |