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Re:Ask HN: How to focus so you work on you most important go... by bromquinn on Thursday September 24, 2020 @02:35AM (#24575909)
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this and trying different things.

Something that’s really helped me is to set aside the first hour of the morning for working on my most important goal. Turn off notifications, put the phone in the other room, and just do it for an hour. (The book ‘the war of art’ has some good notes on this).

If you commit to spending an hour, the next thing you’ll have to do is fight internet distractions during that time. I’ve recently created a chrome extension that helps with this by allowing you to input topics you want to focus on, and the extension will block any unrelated content. ( https://getontopic.com )

Re:Ask HN: How to focus so you work on you most important go... by frans on Friday September 25, 2020 @03:42PM (#24593402)
This is a lovely and clever add-in, kind of a guardian angel sitting on your shoulder. But I wonder if it would help me. Preventing me wasting my time browsing is not my biggest worry. Rather, I'd like the maximum effect of the hour I invest, yet there are easily 100+ actions I have in my list that all somewhat move me forward. But how to pick the most effective one?

PS. Little off topic question (oh the irony): Have you been successful in monetizing your add-in?

Re:Ask HN: How to focus so you work on you most important go... by bromquinn on Monday September 28, 2020 @11:17AM (#24617534)
thanks for the feedback!

RE picking the most effective action in your to-do list: this is something I've thought quite a lot about, and is a product I'd like to make. easier said than done though :)

the extension has only been live for a week or so, and is currently bringing in $0 :)

Re:Ask HN: How to focus so you work on you most important go... by frans on Wednesday September 30, 2020 @05:31PM (#24644160)
I am also considering turning this into a product: 1. assigning weights to you live goals 2. assigning weights to each sub goals of the goals you want to work on first 3. finally determining the most important actions for each of the subgoals.

Then running a small calculation to sort the actions from the most to the least contributing to the most important goals/subgoals.

Should not be that difficult.

Just wonder how to make that in a product that spreads: perhaps sending your closest friends of the 4 - 5 actions you want to get done this week (and why you do exactly those).

Then after a week, you need to report progress and send next week's plan...