In the past when I've needed to concentrate on work, and get massive amounts of work out of the door I've resorted to a very simple strategy - I've maxed out my time. In essence I tell myself that I don't get a break ever, and just concentrate on getting work done. If this means 2 months at a stretch without ever seeing a Sunday, working 16 hours straight every day that's fine.
This has its obvious drawbacks, but basically since I am spending enormous number of hours on work, stuff happens even with minimal amounts of prioritization. A zero tolerance for procrastination / slack time is good, but it also gets incredibly boring since it's just work, work and more work. After a while you stop noticing, but then it also cuts you off from leading a normal life, like usually I wouldn't realize if the city was on fire, and I wouldn't remember what it feels like to sleep in late, or take a lazy shower. This was a few years ago when I was single, and I didn't care if anyone thought me weird for being so as long as I was getting work done. On the other hand, I am now married and I am expected to spend reasonable amounts of time at home to maintain a work - life balance. Plus, I live in India now, which means the mechanics of life will forcibly interrupt my thoughts pretty darn often. My phone line / electricity / broadband / water / transport / city will stop working all together or individually for no reason, and I need to fix it. I am looking therefore for a solution that will allow me to keep my thoughts together, reducing the time needed to switch tasks while retaining maximal task efficiency. It would be ideal if there was also a way to get the fun back into the tasks without having to allocate time on the calendar to spend with the family. That seems so robotronic. I'm open to suggestions that help productivity, whether in the manner of tool suggestions, or schedule / lifestyle suggestions. Meta discussions that will eventually arrive at a solution are ok too, but responses that criticize this work ethos or preach a less-work oriented lifestyle are strictly not kosher. It isn't that I don't appreciate those lifestyles, but such discussions won't help me in my current quest. I am not looking to kill myself with work, but merely eliminate slack time and meaningless pauses in life. ~Cheeni
