Here are a few of mine.
Comupter
- On Windows 10, you can create a second, third, or more desktops. I use one of these as my task focused desktop to get stuff done. It’s great for me because only the web browser and tabs that I open in it will be shown. This helps a lot to keep me from seeing another browser instance and having the urge to switch back.
Smartphone
- I use an Android and realized just this year that I could pause apps. To do this, hold your finger on the app for 2 seconds. A menu will appear, and the hourglass looking thing is tapped to pause the app. This is great for me when I don’t want to get pinged with a bunch of stuff in a set period of time. It also saves battery energy as the app is either no longer running in the background or is running on a low amount of energy. Then when you’re ready to use a paused app, hold your finger on the app for 2 seconds, and a new menu will show to unpause or cancel.
The multi-desktop thing has been a thing in most Linux desktops since the 90s. Just sayin’.
Hacks that work for me:
- Separate work and home devices. I can only stop thinking about work if I physically boot to another device
- Alarms for all the things. Time blindness is annoying and it means I don’t go into “waiting mode” if I know something will disrupt me at the right time.
- Don’t install social media apps on your phone. I have one for Lemmy, but I use facebook and all the others in a browser. This way they absolutely cannot interrupt me. It’s way better for privacy too.
I don’t know if Android has an equivalent, but iOS has focus modes that you can segregate work stuff into. I have mine automatically switch to work mode when I get to my office and switch out of it when I leave. Work stuff can’t do notifications when I’m not in that focus. You can set up separate home and lock screens for each focus if you want, too. You can even filter by contacts if you have colleagues or clients who don’t respect boundaries.
Writing stuff down is the most important part for ny organization and sanity. My thoughts are always scrambled, there’s too many of them and I forget about important stuff constantly. So I write this shit down. Not only todolists, also my ideas, emotions, conclusions, thoughts.
However organizing all that writing was hard as well, especially with a perfrctionist drive and overthinking all the mundane shit like “how many pages should I leave for this”, " where to write this new idea down" and being irritated by some of my writing and strikethroughs.
Now back to the main question - I bought an e-ink device with a stylus. Now I write all the stuff on a tablet. It has almost no other functions other than reading ebooks (and sideloading an app to synchronize my files). There’s nothing to distract me there and I can organize my notes, thoughts, files however I like. When I finish an item, I remove it, it leaves my mind completely. My lists stopped being an incoherent mess and get cleaner with every item I tick off.
It all gives me a feeling of organization and ease of mind where done stuff disappears from my notes. And writing has the benefit of looking at my thoughts and seeing them from another perspective, often proving that lots of stuff is not that hard after all.
Hope it helps.
Get Youtube Vanced (or ReVanced) on your phone and disable all Youtube shorts.
This is very much depends on the person but give up on trying to use too many digital productivity tools and get yourself a notebook and keep your own lists.
- I started noticing I was spending a lot more time managing the tools than working on the tasks they were supposed to manage. Also I can’t always carry the tools with me if they aren’t mobile apps.
- Keeping a notebook planner is a lot less digital distraction outside of the task management too
- You can develop your own process and method of task journaling that works perfect for you instead of trying to get the tools to work for you.
- This method allows me to plan and visualize work for a span of days and digital tools tended to be siloed and hard to keep track of together.
- I keep different journal books for different aspects of life.
- I also find it much easier to manage life if I have a place for lists as well as note taking together and if I need to remember something, all I need to do is flip the page. Downside: I’ve become obsessed with collecting gorgeous and beloved journal books and my favorite company is Peter Pauper Press. I also use a pilot varsity fountain pen and I’m a fancy bitch now.
I’m pretty simple. I jot things down in docs and put everything in my calendar. Everything is on the cloud so I can always find it. Wherever, whenever.
We’re meant to be together
I just ran across this article probably scrolling here or mastodon, but I already forgot where
https://www.laurieherault.com/articles/a-thermal-receipt-printer-cured-my-procrastination
I have a regular watch on my wrist. That way I don’t get sucked into my phone from trying to check what time it is.
When I check the time it is likely I have something to do at a specific time. Which means losing several minutes on social media or whatever might be a bad idea.
Also disable all push notifications. I’ve taken so much control over my life back.
Separate devices and networks for social, shopping, and projects/work-ish. Social and projects are on a whitelist DNS firewall, making it a pain in the ass to do new stuff or chase rabbit holes. It also disconnects any direct link between purchases and whatever stalkers are collecting for data slavery exploitation and manipulation as pirate privateers with a US criminal charter to steal… (/soapbox) as a bonus.
org mode
I turn off almost all notifications, my screen is in black and white mode when it’s time to wind down and while working. I use to not disturb with black and white mode as well. Keeps me from getting distracted while trying to relax or work.
