[Question] What are your top workflow ‘blockers’?

[david_reinstein]

Asked on twitter here

What are the top things that get in the way of your doing productive research or work?

I was thinking of a rough categorization...

1. Motivation and demotivation

• I’m not good enough

• This is pointless

• This is endless

1. Distractors (internal)

• Nerd-sniping

• Fun/​attractors

• Anxiety

1. Distractors (external)

• Interruptions

• Urgent requests

• Fear of missing out/​jealousy

• Fatigue/​physical things

[Guillaume_Chauvat]

I think most of 1 and 2. But also, on a larger scale, something related to the Peter principle can happen: I spend way more time doing things that I’m not motivated for, because those are the ones I get stuck on. The fun parts are over more quickly.

[david_reinstein]

Or maybe these are the mediators and not the prime movers. When I am in certain mental states most of the problems that I mention above can become much more severe or they can disappear entirely.