In this post, I’ll attempt to explain how I organise my day to stay focused at work.

When you have a full-time job and have clear instructions, most of us don’t have to “think” what to do. We sit on our your desk, have people to call, code to write, meetings to attend. When we have “9–5 job” it’s harder to get distracted if you care about what you do.

When you don’t have that person you write your own a task list. That doesn't mean that's difficult to lose focus and spend time on non-important things. It's easy to just “be busy”, but accomplish little to move the company forward.

It's so hard to actually do something if you don't have to do.
– Joe Rogan. JRE #1063 with Tom Segura

Let me give you a concrete example.

When I have many things to do or don't have a clear idea of what I'm doing tomorrow, I write down tomorrow's schedule as a basic to-do list, one for each day.

(pic of Google Keep)

For Monday, I write around 6 things I want to accomplish.

I put the things that are work-related; like eating, going to the gym, other appointments so I can remember that, first of all, I can’t skip those, they’re mandatory, and second of all I can’t do everything in 24 hours. There’s a limited amount of time during the day. I can’t do everything and that’s okay.

Filling tomorrow’s action list before I go to sleep it’s a mental exercise for me.

I try to be specific, e.g. "Develop the Settings Screen" or "Develop Comments API".

Having a specific task in mind for the next day helps my brain to start thinking about work naturally and not get lost in emails, Task or Project Management apps, etc.
I know what to do when I'm ready to work. I don't need to ask myself or check what's next in Trello. I’m determined with my time.

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The 5-minute trick, can do wonders. When I don't feel motivated or energised, I trick yourself to do a particular task for 5 minutes. I just need to fight inertia and get over that initial hump.

If I try this self-deception, after 30 minutes I realise all the work I have done! And it was automatic. It was impediment I had set for myself.

I acknowledge the lack of energy but try to work a bit. When you hear and try these mind tricks that work for you collect "arsenals" you have to fight against your own laziness and different mental states.

Another tip you might want to try is journaling. I won't explain here, this blog post does a very good job at it.
I've started writing my journal for a week or so, so I'll write a blog post if I find useful to share my experience.

(html comment removed: > When the ball is rolling, don't stop pushing! )

Of course, sometimes you don’t even have an ounce of energy. And if you try to work you will just stare at the computer screen consuming calories and warming up the keyboard and mouse.

A 20-minute nap (or more) or walk can do wonders to revitalise and distract yourself.

The Pillow app on the iPhone recommends the following durations for naps:

• Power Nap. Up to 20 mins. Boosts alertness and energy
• Recovery Nap. Up to 45 mins. Enhances memory and focus
• Full Cycle Nap. Up to 120 mins. Best for restoration and relaxation

If you can work from home few days per week, I recommend napping. You're not being lazy. Rather, the opposite. You feel tired and you get some rest to keep working or doing whatever you want (even party) :D

All these little tips and tricks are things we pick up as we go along. We talk to people, read blogs, books or listen to podcasts.

As we learn tips like these that work for us, we become more comfortable to take on bigger and daunting tasks. Like running, when you know you can run a 5k, your confidence increases and you feel you're able to run a 10k.

We stand on our achievements, setbacks and what we learn from those. Let's learn and keep improving.

Good night, good fight.

Yours truly,
Gianfranco

If you have any feedback or questions, you can find my personal email on http://gian.xyz