Program - finish my workday in the morning

2023-06-15:
This continues to work well for me. My “done with morning block” internal clock is now set to 2:30-2:45. I get 11-12 25m pomo equivalents done in that block on most days. I feel pretty great about that—I used to struggle to get 8-10 all day. These days most days are one 25m session with my notebook while I drink morning coffee, then a 30m meditation break, then five 55m sessions. Afternoons activities typically include a walk (often as a meeting), weight training, a reading block, and piano. Wrote more about this in 2022-11-30 Patreon update - Cultivating depth and stillness in research.

2022-01-31:
It’s interesting to reflect on the difference between 2022 Maui retreat and my time at home. On Maui, I was able to get ten or so pomos done in a solid morning block (though I notice it became more and more difficult as the numbers got higher). Then I’d basically let myself relax for the day. I went to the beach. I read books, some of which were work-related, and some of which were not. I didn’t make myself try to do something “productive” in the evenings. I’d like to adjust my life here to work similarly. I’d like a solid morning block, then I’d like to more or less “free myself” from the computer for the day. Getting through ten pomos on Maui usually took me 6-7 hours. I’m finding even 5 hours tough to arrange here before I break for lunch around noon.

So in February, I’m gonna try a new mode: ==notionally finish my workday in the morning==.

1. Strongly emphasize focused creative work in the morning. Forest first thing, no wifi, etc. Just try to make the most of that block of time. Since it’s “only” 5-6 hours long, let’s try no extended breaks.
   • The high-order bit for my productivity is whether I complete a deeply-focused morning creative block
2. Set my “done with morning block” internal clock to 1:30PM, rather than noon. Maybe I’ll be able to push it even later in the future, particularly if I keep making lunch at home.
3. After that—truly free myself! Feel zero guilt about napping, spending time with people, reading whatever, being outside, going to SFMOMA, etc. If I’m on a roll, sure, let’s keep working. Otherwise, let’s live and be joyful.
4. Let’s increase the quality of my downtime. When I’m tired, I’m susceptible to getting stuck on the couch mindlessly reading low-quality sites. I’m 100% OK with being low-energy and not working in the afternoon… but let’s do something more meaningful! Let’s read “better words”; let’s watch great film or television or talks; let’s go on walks; let’s nap. All this is better than mindless scrolling.
   • List of activities to do when feeling low-energy

If I can make something like this routine happen, I think I can gradually increase the number of pomos I’m getting done in the morning.