A daily routine for productivity
Aug 25, 2017 · 2 min read
Last update: 2019–10–03
I first wrote about my (ideal) routine in Finishing PhD last year. As I realized that I want to keep optimizing the custom, and the routine can be applied to other situations, I want to make it to another post.
General strategy
Assuming you have long-term tasks (e.g. paper writing) and short-term tasks (small engineering tasks), then you would consciously need to allocate time for long-term tasks in order to make steady progress on these tasks without drowning with short-term tasks.
Time allocation
Morning (7:00-12:00)
- Wake up early and start the best day. (I usually try to get up around 7:00)
- Work on brief and essential routine tasks. In my case, I at first check emails and social media posts and re-organize the day’s tasks accordingly. Do a short workout.
- Skim the latest academic papers and read interesting ones. Paper reading can take time so I prefer doing it early in a day. I feel I still need to force myself to read academic papers in a designated time slot (typically for an hour), otherwise, I’ll fall behind my stack of relevant and important papers. Make sure to take notes and always think about how the paper you are reading contributes to your paper. If you come up with nothing, stop reading it and go to the next one. I follow S. Keshav’s method (https://web.stanford.edu/class/ee384m/Handouts/HowtoReadPaper.pdf) to efficiently skim papers.
- Spend a fixed amount of time for writing. Refer “How to write a lot (http://www.apa.org/pubs/books/4441010.aspx)” book. I try to spend 30 mins/day on writing when I do not have upcoming deadlines. If there is an upcoming deadline, I would write as much as I should for finishing it during the daytime.
Remaining daytime (-17:00)
- Work on long term tasks. Sometimes you work on tasks that require weeks to finish. It is important to keep working on it every day in order to make progress.
- Try to finish 80% of the tasks planned for the day before 3 pm. Try to maintain the best focus in the beginning hour, then allow yourself to cruise after that.
Afternoon to evening (17:00-21:00)
It is difficult to maintain a long focus in the evening due to housework, so I try to keep small tasks at this time slot.
- Finish small tasks with a low cognitive load such as replying email, administrative paperwork in the remaining time.
- Prepare for a better tomorrow. Review the completed and remaining tasks. Adjust the task schedule to make sure you can start your best day tomorrow.
- Stop working by one hour before sleep.
