Geeking out online is easy to do. Just a quick search for any fandom will give you a million hits or so, and you'll have hours or more of inspiration.
But juggling geekery with responsibilities is tough. It's easy to get distracted.
You can usually juggle yourself into work with the carrot-stick motivator, giving yourself a break every so often. There's also the strategy of shutting off the internet to work.
You can leverage your obsession to work for you with the carrot technique, but the peril is that you'll start giving yourself too many carrots.The other end of the spectrum, slash-and-burn, seems awfully bleak, though. Short of recruiting a second person to control your breaks for you, your best bet is to use a timer.
Yes, Rube-Goldberg machines are fine, but make sure you don't spend more time making the machine (and watching it go) than doing what you should.
Working in groups is another big help. Accountability by giving your word is a great option lots of 1k1hr writers use--1000 words in 1 hour, with check-ins every hour to see who reached their goal. An easy alternate is to recruit your fellow fandoms, have everyone set a goal, and check up with each other each hour to see what kind of progress is being made.
But not all jobs allow accessing massive online communities during work hours. Sometimes you have to find your own accountability. Sometimes, you have to make yourself a list-reward: You can buy a candy bar at the store if and only if you accomplish the goal you set in the morning.
What are some productivity strategies you use? How do you focus?
But juggling geekery with responsibilities is tough. It's easy to get distracted.
You can usually juggle yourself into work with the carrot-stick motivator, giving yourself a break every so often. There's also the strategy of shutting off the internet to work.
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| If you're going to watch the clock, it should be a pretty clock. |
Yes, Rube-Goldberg machines are fine, but make sure you don't spend more time making the machine (and watching it go) than doing what you should.
Working in groups is another big help. Accountability by giving your word is a great option lots of 1k1hr writers use--1000 words in 1 hour, with check-ins every hour to see who reached their goal. An easy alternate is to recruit your fellow fandoms, have everyone set a goal, and check up with each other each hour to see what kind of progress is being made.
But not all jobs allow accessing massive online communities during work hours. Sometimes you have to find your own accountability. Sometimes, you have to make yourself a list-reward: You can buy a candy bar at the store if and only if you accomplish the goal you set in the morning.
What are some productivity strategies you use? How do you focus?
The Pomodoro Technique. It takes a lot of energy to be so focused, though, so you have to ease into it. One or two pomodori the first day. Slowly increase the number. If you take a break of more than a few days, you'll have to backtrack a bit. But once you've gotten into the swing of it, it does wonders for actually making you want to work.
ReplyDeleteNice! Hadn't heard of that one before. It does take a lot of energy to stay focused, so something that increases that... I will have to check that out. :D
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