I’m still not great at this myself, but I find it sometimes helps to add fixed points throughout the day, ideally ones that involve obligations to other people. Like “No matter what, I’m feeding my pets at 8:30, walking the dog at noon, talking to my boss at 3 about the project I am scheduled to work on in the morning, and sending that email to a client by 5pm.” Right now I have a system where at the end of the day, before 5pm, I send my boss a quick note with a list of my projects and their status. He doesn’t really care how much I’ve gotten done on any given day as long as it averages out, but it’s helpful for him to know, and it’s enough of a psychological nudge to help me get back to work and focus throughout the day. Usually.
My other “solution” is very short term, but I find my ability to focus goes way up if I’m so overscheduled and approaching deadlines that the things I need to do push everything else out of my brain. Of course, that’s not a great way to live, and prone to backfiring in many ways.
I’m still not great at this myself, but I find it sometimes helps to add fixed points throughout the day, ideally ones that involve obligations to other people. Like “No matter what, I’m feeding my pets at 8:30, walking the dog at noon, talking to my boss at 3 about the project I am scheduled to work on in the morning, and sending that email to a client by 5pm.” Right now I have a system where at the end of the day, before 5pm, I send my boss a quick note with a list of my projects and their status. He doesn’t really care how much I’ve gotten done on any given day as long as it averages out, but it’s helpful for him to know, and it’s enough of a psychological nudge to help me get back to work and focus throughout the day. Usually.
My other “solution” is very short term, but I find my ability to focus goes way up if I’m so overscheduled and approaching deadlines that the things I need to do push everything else out of my brain. Of course, that’s not a great way to live, and prone to backfiring in many ways.