Why is it sometimes so hard to have a well structured working day? I have gazillion things to do, the uni is still pretty quiet and nobody really distracts me, but still there are some days where I can't finish one thing before I start another. Today I did data analysis for two paper drafts and some literature reading for a third one, just because while working on one I got some ideas about the others and directly had to check it. Then I had to check some more stuff and seconds later I already had forgotten why I actually changed the topic I was working on. This is an ongoing issue for me and I'm not very happy that I have not improved much since I wrote about it last time.
I know that having a plan for each day and each week works very good for me. When I was still commuting to work I was using the time on the train to note down daily plans. Ticking each point off was very motivating. I still have a general to-do list, not really a weekly plan though. But I never made it to having a plan for the whole year or even just a month, with well defined goals and stuff, even though that's supposed to be fantastic as well. Setting up a plan for the whole year scares me even a bit. When I'm really honest I think it would show me merciless that I'll never ever be able to do all the work that I think / wish /dream I could. So it even would be very helpful to become more realistic... *sigh*. Things like this seem to need a lot of fresh attempts to maybe / hopefully / finally master them.
This may be totally useless, since I can't work on a set schedule/plan, and need to be able to flit from topic to topic as inspiration dictates (that makes it sound much more exciting/romantic than it is). But... I wonder if you are asking the wrong question. From your description, it doesn't sound like you are not being productive, just not doing the things you set out to do. Are you actually getting less done this way than otherwise, or are you just getting different things done. If the latter, and you aren't falling into the trap of putting off things with deadlines tomorrow by working on things with deadlines next week, does it really matter?
ReplyDeleteUsually I find that I am more productive, when I make myself concentrate on one thing for at least a couple of hours. I usually need some time to get all the strings together and re-think my main thoughts from last time. When I jump from topic to topic it's usually because I can't decide what to do. Either due to total excitement for all the topics or due to the total non-existence of excitement for the stuff I have to do. Or I get so stressed out by the length of my to do list, that I try to do everything at once - which is doomed to fail.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I am still productive while jumping from topic to topic - but it feels very messed up.