How Do You Get Work Done?

canuck asks: "I am currently a university student and have a major problem: being able to simply sit down and get work done. I can set aside a day to work, whether it is homework or contract work, and I will be lucky to have an hour done before dinner time. The only time I can actually get solid work done seems to be after midnight under a lot of pressure (ie. a deadline the next day). This has led to too many 5 a.m. nights and turning down too many invitations to go out only to stay in and accomplish nothing. I have stopped playing games, stopped watching TV, tried reading the Seven Habits book, and am currently seeing what classical music does for me. I don't think I have ADHD, and I am not sure what else to try. If it is computer work, the web is always a click away, and I can always escape to my imagination. I know many of you will have had the same problem. Can anyone please give advice on how to overcome this problem, be it a little trick, medication, or anything else?"

Comments

Just route Slashdot to 127.0.0.1

[AJWM]

It'll save you all kinds of time...

What I do...

[Jack William Bell]

Well, first I check /. and see if there is anything interesting. Then I surf around and check the various blogs and newsites I read. After that I check /. again and maybe post a comment to an interesting article.

If, while I am surfing around, I find something cool I post a link to it to me /. journal (which everyone should read, cuz it is full of wierd bullshit). Then I surf some more. That is how I get my w........

Never mind.

Re:Stop Reading Slashdot!

[cliffiecee]

> I'm sure that the code produced are of real high quality.

I'm sure the sentence produced are are of real high quality.

Re:I would recommend some exercise

[dark-br]

Recommend exercise on /.? R u nutz?

I would recommend some of this. But remember, use it sparingly, dont drink it direclty from the bottle! :)

Disconnect from the internet.

[sQuEeDeN]

Honestly, you'd be amazed what two little things can do:

1. ifconfig eth0 down

   you'd be amazed at what getting rid of a global distraction can do :)

2. Ritalin. It's amazing. People give ritalin shit for being overprescribed, but it's remarkable. Just do what everyone in the ivies do (and Exeter): snort it. You'll be more focused than ever before.

Okay, snorting ritalin isn't for everyone, but it helps. I also reccomend exercise as a way to focus your mind. It's effects are hard to explain, but ever since I started biking i've found a tuned body helps the mind. (Sounds like new age shit but, hey, it works.)

Also try downtempo music, much like what you can find on SomaFM

Re:I would recommend some exercise

[nomadic]

Recommend exercise on /.? R u nutz?

ya u r right, we dun like even typing in all the lettrs.

Re:one word..

[miketang16]

spelling..

Re:I would recommend some exercise

[probbka]

I wonder how much of that stuff you'd have to drink straight in order to kill yourself...

Like 1, 2 teaspoons?

Re: OT

[AJWM]

'Code' can be a plural.

Sure it can. Just ask Darl (All Your Code Are Belong To Us) McBride of SCO...

my wife says

[Anonymous Coward]

that I often get distracted too but I disagree. I think it's more a case of

Re:I would recommend some exercise

[owenb]

Yeah, dotslash is a pretty good site.

Re:Gumption traps

[saden1]

I'm sorry to say but, my inner greed trumps my inner lazy. Often times greed bitch slaps lazy because lazy doesn't seem to understand we have bills to pay.

THE IRONY

[Rylfaeth]

I LOVE the fact that I'm sitting here procrastinating by reading an article about overcoming procrastination by way of anecdotal evidence. Seriously, at what point in human evolution did life become this easy?
-Rylfaeth

Re:We call this discipline

[orasio]

Sadly, no one, but we are eager to start again. No luck yet. Maybe John Carmack has ADD?? Some ritalin for JC might be good for gamers??

Re:Avoiding Distractions

[j_dot_bomb]

Before I read this story I was segmenting my logins like you suggest. I am adding "force" to that by encrypting the full access login with a key that can be bruteforced in a known period of time (Ill try just a few hours at first, maybe 8 or 24)

An easier solution

[commodoresloat]

Stop posting to slashdot asking why you aren't getting work done.

Re:a MUSICAL exercise and a question about ADHD

[commodoresloat]

Ritalin is a class two drug with side effects similar to cocaine. Frankly, no kid anywhere should be ingesting it, and neither should you.

Definitely. Cocaine is much cheaper and easier to come by, and you don't need a Doctor's prescription.

Re:People are the cause of all loss of concentrati

[backdoorstudent]

Damn! You're on your way to either a Nobel prize, or violent mental breakdown. In either case don't you think your solution is a bit too sociopathic?

best way to stop addictive web browsing...

[PickaBooga]

...build a negative mental association with web browsing...
... make SCO's web page your home page.

You will begin to associate web browsing with feelings of agonizing fury and dull throbbing pain between the temples.

For an instant shock therapy, make your desktop background a plot of SCO's inexplicably skyrocketing stock price...

Re:I would recommend some exercise

[mkldev]

To make matters worse, at least in a traditional UFS-like environment (EXT*, FFS, etc.), "/." = "/", so slashdot starts off with a Score -1: Redundant.... :-)

Re:I would recommend some exercise

[mkldev]

How the hell do they know that?

Doctorr: So if you press this button, the life support system will dispense Morphine.

Patient: Well, what does this button do?

Doctor: Oh, don't press that. That's the caffeine button.

(Patient pushes button).

Patient: Ah yes, that's the stuff.

Doctor: Jeez! Are you crazy!?! In your condition?

(Click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, beep, beep, beep, beep, beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.....)

Re:Disconnect from the net

[dekashizl]

Want to get serious work done? Walk across the room and disconnect the network cable from the wall. Really need access (like to submit your homework, as you suggested) walk over and plug it in, submit your work, and then unplug it again.

This is exactly what I do. A small improvement on this is to get an X-10 computer interface, and connect the network cable to a 12V X-10 controlled motor (Lutron, Makita, etc.), so that instead of having to get up to plug/unplug it, you just press a key on your keyboard and it remotely and physically does it for you. Taking it further, you can set it up so that when your cursor hovers over Mozilla, it automatically plugs in the cable for you. It works really well, and as soon as I finish writing this, I'll get right back to that paper I'm supposed to turn in tomorrow morning!

Re:I would recommend some exercise

[The_dev0]

I don't think the problem here is lack of energy, but rather procrastination.

Yeah, That's my problem too. I really have to do something about it. Starting tomorrow, I will procrastinate no further!

Office Spaces says it all

[hayden]

"It's not that I'm lazy. It's that I just don't care." -- Peter Gibbons

Re:Avoiding Distractions

[ralphclark]

Alan! What the blazes are you doing surfing slashdot? Get back to work!

It's easy.

[mcp33p4n75]

cat >> /etc/hosts.deny slashdot.org ^D

Re:Thats a time management issue

[CaptainAvatar]

I dont think its about time management, its about how you spend your time.

Um, yeah ... right. That makes sense.

One Word...

[GamezCore.com]

BEER.

OK, well I can speak from experience that I do my finest work under pressure. I've tried this non-procrastination route you speak of, and it hasn't gotten me anywhere. Some people work better when the heat is turned up.

Seriously I think it is just hard-wired into our psyche. As computer geeks, our minds are working on many levels all the time... multi-tasking if you will. This constant flow of information, and the pursuit of more, leads to this hyper ADHD type personality. It's always been that way, and I don't think it is going to change any time soon. Just face the music, you've become one of us.