Same. I think attaching deadlines and someone to keep you accountable may be the only cure.

This is the pain of actually loving this field. Your job is to do productive stuff, but you just want to study those cache-oblivious ds.

Keep a log or diary of what you're spending time on.

I'm a fan of the Bullet Journal model. Paper & pen, but organised.

Note your important tasks/goals, and actual time allocations.

Learn to say "no" to the trivial, or, better, structure your environment such that they don't present themselves.

Also recognise the limits to, and robbers of, yor attention and focus.

It's still a struggle, but most of us can manage some improvement.

I've tried bullet journaling. I like the idea, but it's just not natural for how I capture information.

So I do a sort of pomodoro, where I work for a while and use the break to do a recap of what I was working on. It helps keep me cognizant of how much time I'm spending on what.

"Keep a log or diary" ...another low value work

You are labouring under a severe misapprehension.