I see that this convo has been split so I’ll chime in here too about tracking actual research. For folks who haven’t seen it, I use a version of a chrome extension called Strict Workflow that I updated to link to beeminder. It is a pomodoro timer that blocks websites. I updated it to add a little box when you click on the extension in chrome you can add a note that will be logged with your pomodoro to beeminder and it displays how many pomodoros you’ve done that day. Here’s my fine print edited for clarity:
"Pomodoros should be related to PhD specific activities. Broadly, think of the 20% work that will give 80% of the benefits.
Group meeting counts as 1 pomodoro.
Meetings specifically related to research count in full; lunches/talks or helping another person count as 1 Pomodoro unless significant in duration (e.g. certain conferences would count in full).
Readings directly related to the PhD experience count in moderation (2 per day).
Lab cleanup on designated days can count in full; cleaning up to procrastinate counts for at most 1-2 pomodoros."
I set my pomodoro threshold lower - around 25 pomodoro sessions (25 min each) per week. For some weeks I found myself not very motivated or didn’t have a lot to do, and this was a lower bound that kept things moving but didn’t stress me out. Sometimes I’d also have weeks where I was writing or spending a lot of time thinking and I have a hard time doing that for more than about 4-5 pomos worth in a given day. If I try to do more work those days it needs be more mindless/execution focused. The past few weeks I’ve had deadlines and have worked way more than that, but my goal is ending for the semester Thursday and I haven’t needed the extra kick when I have real deadlines.
I’ve also found that keeping track of what I need to do the next day is very important, especially when I’m not sure what to do next. I’m not a morning person so I know I need to do it the night before. I am not consistent about actually sitting down and writing up my priorities so this is something I may start beeminding in January. When I do plan things out, I use and really like Complice, which is certainly popular among the beeminder crowd. It can also log pomodoros, but I’m set on my routine now so I haven’t personally used the feature.