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therufs comments on Group Rationality Diary, September 16-30 - Less Wrong
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Notwithstanding having made a very specific list of things to do today, I almost immediately digressed into related tasks that were not on the list.
This failure mode requires further attention, as does (possibly) what is a suitable to-do list entry.
Further breakdown: The task turned out to have hidden problems, and so I started solving the problems in order to complete the task, which is fine, but not what i intended. I also didn't think before writing down the task 'might this task involve problems?'
Related failure: I do not feel productive, because the work I ended up doing was not the work I planned to do*. So I need to either get better at sticking to my list, or update on what merits feeling productive.
I wonder if I'd feel productive if I hadn't had a list at all?
* Edited to add: Maybe the reason I don't feel productive is because I have done a bunch of work but not reduced the observable pile of work that needs done.
I've found it useful to add time-estimates to my to-do list, and I stop adding things once I have eight hours of work down for the day. For me, the "I've acheived everything I set out to today" feeling comes partially from getting lots done and partially from setting realistic expectations.
I usually make a schedule on my gcal, but I don't put much effort into being accurate with time estimations -- a couple of quick tasks can share half an hour; larger tasks usually can't be completed in a day so they get whatever chunk of time I feel like allotting them, often 1.5-2 hours. Then I feel like I have accomplished things if I actually get done all my little tasks, and if I actually do my big tasks for at least most of their allotted time.
I've had the same "aha" moment about realistic expectations, and scheduling has helped, but ... it seems like maybe the novelty has worn off or something?
What happens if, when you encounter unexpected work, you put it on your list before doing it?
Then I feel fine about it! But I didn't realize I was doing off-list tasks this time.