Try just doing short intervals of work, for example 20 minutes, spaced out with adequate breaks. Use a timer. Any timer will do, but if you want an online one, E.gg Timer does a good job.

I think too much effort is spent on being productive rather than just doing stuff. Once you know a task is important and should be completed, the only thing left is to actually complete it, right?

Basically, I’ve been taking the approach of, listing anything I want to do in a big task list. Keep this list simple – paper based or a single text file. Then go through the list and pick out things that are important. Important generally means the task will help towards accomplish a worthwhile goal OR is something you need to do to keep things going (e.g. pay the bills). Then use a timer to chip away at the task. Some tasks can be completed in 20 minutes, others require a number focused attempts to complete.

Remember:

• Focused effort for 20 minutes (no distractions)
• Do things that are important

This is the stuff I’ve picked up from reading a number of productivity blogs, in particular Zen Habits.