Trying to become more productive

Writing a dissertation is a huge task, and, to accomplish it successfully, I need to get some organization system in place. In the past, right after defending my Master's thesis, I tried to reflect on the challenges of working on a lengthy research project, and, as a part of that process, read a number of books on academic writing. One of my favorites at the time was Robert Boice's Professors as Writers: A Self-Help Guide to Productive Writing. The book discusses psychological causes of typical writing problems, such as being stuck or unable to start writing, and outlines ways to make writing a regular and productive habit, which include establishing momentum via uncensored generative writing, developing a sense of organization that will help in subsequent revisions, cycling through these two steps, and ensuring continuous progress through prioritizing writing, imposing self-control, and soliciting feedback. During my first reading of the book, I learned two important lessons that helped me to grow as a writer. The first one was the idea of cycling through the stages of uncensored writing and revision, and the second, Boice's advice to write in short intervals of 20-30 minutes, avoiding binge writing.

However, as I have recently discovered when working on my dissertation, I need additional tools to achieve continuous productivity and to deal with occasional blocks. I reread Boice's book, hoping to find more useful ideas that didn't register with me during the first reading. One of them was "automatic note taking," which works best for me when combined with the Cornell note taking method. I still stick to my usual reading routine with underlining what I find important and jotting notes on the margins. Then, as Boice suggests, I devote one page of notes to each literature source. Since the notes are so short, they don't require much time, and I made a rule not to move to another source before the notes for the previous one are done. The notes include only those aspects of the source that I can use in the chapter I'm working on. If I plan to use the same source for a different chapter or another project, then I return to it later and make a new set of notes. In the left (narrower) column of a notepad for the Cornell style notes, I put keywords that refer to the subsections of the chapter or some specific points to which the source is related; in the right (wider) column, some specifics on the connections of the source to my project; and in the bottom section, a summary of the implications that the source has for my work.
  
Another tool that has helped me in improving my continuous productivity came from the Pomodoro technique. The idea behind that technique is somewhat similar to Boice's suggestion to write in short intervals of 20-30 minutes, but I found that the Pomodoro technique is easier for me to implement, probably, because it doesn't focuses exclusively on writing, but covers various types of tasks, such as reading, note taking, correspondence, etc. Each pomodoro is 25 minutes of uninterrupted work; then, there is a short 2-5 minute break before the next pomodoro, and a longer one ~15-30 minutes after the 4-th one. I use both a mechanical Pomodoro, which is basically a regular kitchen timer, and Android Pomodoro app; each of them works best for different types of activities.

When the Pomodoro rings, I am "not allowed" to keep working for another minute or two to finish what I've been doing and have to use the time of the break to "disconnect" from my work and to do something good for my health (e.g., some stretches). All completed pomodoros need to be recorded, and the records need to be analyzed to estimate how much time each type of tasks requires. Using the Pomodoro Techniques for reading and note taking allows me (1) to better spread my energy over time and, as a result, accomplish more by taking frequent breaks and (2) to get a sense of accomplishing something meaningful, which is often missing when I'm amidst of extensive reading and note taking.

The Pomodoro technique also gave me a good idea on how to plan my daily activities and ensure ongoing progress. The Pomodoro technique book suggests keeping two lists: "To Do Today" and "Activity Inventory." I use the latter in two different forms: (1) a list of ideas and possible revisions for the chapter and (2) a list of all my weekly activities, which I create at the end of each week and then divide into seven parts for each day of the week. As recommended in the Pomodoro book, I keep adding unplanned and urgent activities to my weekly list and then reassign them to specific days. At the end of the day, I cross out completed tasks and make notes on the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the strategies I used in accomplishing them, to be able to better plan for similar tasks in the future. Although at this point I don't make any estimates of how many pomodoros each task would require, I plan to advance to that in the future. Currently, I only identify the tasks that I need to do, decide on how many pomodoros I have in a given day, and do my best to accomplish what I've planned. If something is left unfinished (or even unstarted), I make notes in my daily to-do list and assign the task to another day. This approach keeps me focused on what needs to be done and allows me to find additional time for work by squeezing a pomodoro in between already preplanned activities.

What strategies and productivity tools do you use to ensure smooth and continuous progress in your work? What did and did not work for you?