I used to struggle with the "I should really be writing now" guilt during my downtime. I felt this guilt at night because I looked back at my work day & realised how much time I spent *not working*.

Here's how I beat this guilt & began to enjoy my nights/weekends again [THREAD]

Writing is hard. A goal like ‘finish my paper this week’ can be unrealistic. Instead, I’ve found it’s better to have WRITING TIME goals, where I aim to work uninterrupted for a given amount of time.

Uninterrupted work means no internet or social media, all notifications on your phone turned off, NOTHING. It's not just the distraction itself that's a time suck, you also have to think about the distraction 'residue', as it can take time to get back into the writing groove.

The technique I use to get stuff done in the Pomodoro technique in which you work for a set amount of time (e.g., 40 minutes) and then have a 15 minute break between sessions. There are plenty of Pomodoro apps available, but you can just use a simple timer if you want.

I use @forestapp_cc, as this app also blocks me from mindlessly checking my phone. This is the one app that has transformed my productivity the most, just try it.

I’ve been using the Pomodoro technique for a few years, and the BEST I can do is eight 40 minute sessions a day. More than this, and my brain is fried. I could try for more sessions, but the quality of my work would be horrible or I would just be starting at a screen.

When I get to the end of day after completing 8 Pomodoro sessions, I'm satisfied that I've done the most productive work I can do for the day.

No more work guilt.

I'm sure other people have different daily limits, but I know I've found mine.

Because papers take so long to write, it can be hard to track your progress. I find it MUCH easier to track how many Pomodoro sessions I'm doing each day/week/month. If I keep these sessions up, I know the papers will happen.

Instead of closing my email app (because often I have to refer to emails), I just take my accounts offline. This also eliminates the idea that an email *might* come in while I'm working & interrupt me.

Your inbox is *other people's to-do lists*. Take back control of your time.

The SelfControl app is also brilliant http://selfcontrolapp.com/  With this app you can block access to specific websites for a set amount of time. Not even restarting your computer will stop the timer (so don't go setting it for a week)

If you're interested in the benefits of uninterrupted work, read Cal Newport's 'Deep work' book https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/dp/1455586692 This book has had a HUGE impact on my work (just ignore the pop psych bits, which aren't really central to his main thesis anyway)