One: You have to train yourself to notice things. It's not 100% natural at first – it certainly wasn’t for me – but raising those antennae is a very worthwhile thing to do. And it snowballs: once I got started taking notes, I ended up taking more and more of them.

Two: Be very liberal about what you keep. If you're going through your notes, cross ou... See more

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. Burkeman highlights Robert Boice, a psychology professor who studies the various habits and routines of writers. His research uncovered something counterintuitive and revelatory. Writers who made writing a smaller, shorter part of their day were decidedly more productive and succe

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