DEV Community

Discussion on: My Productivity Boosters — A random collection of tricks and tools — What are yours?

Collapse
 
patrickodacre profile image
Patrick O'Dacre

Great read!

A lot of my productivity hacks come from Deep Work - Cal Newport.

An "ah ha" I got from his book was to set up my environment and mental state properly.

Before I work, I take the dog for a walk and mentally walk through what I want to accomplish, and I attempt to get into the frame of mind necessary for extreme focus -- the kind a chess champion or a surgeon would need.

Once home, I prepare a coffee, some water and a few snacks. I clean my desk, write down my time blocks and todos for the day, and in general just get ready so I won't have to move for hours.

When I'm ready, I close my office door and I completely get in the zone. All unnecessary browser tabs are closed, phone is at a safe distance so I won't check twitter, etc.

With practice, I can enter the zone fairly quickly, and with my little todo list next to me, I am often very pleased with the results of the day.

Collapse
 
fabrik42 profile image
Christian Bäuerlein

Good points, the book is going on my reading list :)

Collapse
 
patrickodacre profile image
Patrick O'Dacre

I was very glad when I finally bought it. The sooner you read it, the better :)