The Accountability Method

A friend of mine suggested a very good idea. He said that if you're having trouble working, share your goals with a friend you trust and respect. The idea is:

• at the beginning of the day, email the friend with your list of daily goals (I also add a little bit of commentary)
  
• at the end of the day, email your friend back saying what you accomplished, didn't complete, and why
  
• save your writeups in a text file and look over it each week to see what works and what doesn't (of course you can also adjust and experiment during the week)

A few additional comments. I usually stop writing up goals over the weekend, to give myself a break. I also schedule fun stuff into my day (like read a non-technical book or watch a hockey game).