A big part of staying productive at work involves making conscious decisions about when you’re focusing on a task to the exclusion of everything else and when you’re open to interruptions. Author Tim Ferriss interviewed me recently about my bi-modal work style, which can apply to anyone who’s online and at a computer all day long:

Basically, I’ve got two modes of work: loose/open, and focused/closed. When I’m in “open” mode, my instant messenger status is set to available, I’m surfing, writing, checking email, coding, listening to music with lyrics—getting things done, but in a multitasking way, open to interruptions and tangents.

When I’m in focused/closed mode, I shut down IM, stop checking email, close any windows I’m not using, switch to my ambient music playlist, set a timer, and plow through whatever I’ve got to get done. Typically I go into closed mode when I’m on deadline, or feel like too much time has passed since I checked off something really important on my list.

If you can forgive that shamelessly self-referential act of quoting myself, tell me: what different modes of work are you in during the day? How and when do you move between them? Give it up in the comments.

Being bored.. the human desire to access as many active processes and learning resources as possible, or to put it negatively, an aversion to boredom caused by redundant specialised activity.

We start the year in Britain with a challenge to our essential nature, for 2008 might turn out to be the year when we decide to rip up the Magna Carta.

Video: Phil Booth on what the Government isn’t telling us

Among the basic civil rights in this country, there has always been, at least in theory, an inclination towards liberal democracy, which includes a tolerance of an individual’s right to privacy.
We are born free and have the right to decide what freedom means, each for ourselves, and to have control over our outward existence, yet that will no longer be the case if we agree to identity cards.

Britain is already the most self-watching country in the world, with the largest network of security cameras; a new study suggests we are now every bit as poor at protecting privacy as Russia, China and America.

But surveillance cameras and lost data will prove minuscule problems next to ID cards, which will obliterate the fundamental right to walk around in society as an unknown.

Some of you may have taken that freedom so much for granted that you forget how basic and important it is, but in every country where ID cards have ever been introduced, they have changed the relation between the individual and the state in a way that has not proved beneficial to the individual. I am not just talking Nazi Germany, but everywhere.

It is also a spiritual matter: a person’s identity is for him or her to decide and to control, and if someone decides to invest the details of their person in a higher authority, then it should not be the Home Office.

The compulsory ID card scheme is a sickness born of too much suspicion and too little regard for the meaning of tolerance and privacy in modern life.

Hooking individuals up to a system of instantly accessible data is an obscenity - not only a system waiting to be abused, but a system already abusing.

Though we don’t pay much attention to moral philosophy in the mass media now - Bertrand Russell having long been exchanged for the Jeremy Kyle Show - it may be worth remembering that Britain has a tradition of excellence when it comes to distinguishing and upholding basic rights and laws in the face of excessive power.

The ID cards issue should be raising the most stimulating arguments about who we are and how we are - but no, it is not: we nose the grass like sheep and prepare to be herded once again.

It seems the only person speaking up with a broad sense of what this all means is Nick Clegg, the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, who has devoted much of his new year message to underlining the sheer horribleness of the scheme.

He has said he will go to jail rather than bow to this “expensive, invasive and unnecessary” affront to “our natural liberal tendencies”.

I have to say I cheered when I heard this, not only because I agree, but because it is entirely salutary, in these sheepish times, to see a British politician express his personal feelings so strongly.

Many people on the other side of the argument make what might be called a category mistake when they say: “If you’ve nothing to hide, why object to carrying a card?”

Making it compulsory to prove oneself, in advance, not to be a threat to society is an insult to one’s right not to be pre-judged or vetted.

Our system of justice is based on evidence, not on prior selection, and the onus on proving criminality is a matter for the justice system, where proof is of the essence.

Many regrettable things occur as a result of freedom - some teenage girls get pregnant, some businessmen steal from their shareholders, some soldiers torture their enemies, some priests exploit children - but these cases would not, in a liberal society, require us to end the private existence of all people just in case.

If the existence of terrorists, these few desperate extremists, makes it necessary for everybody in Britain to carry an ID card then it is a price too high.

It is more than a price, it is a defeat, and one that we will repent at our leisure. Challenges to security should, in fact, make us more protective of our basic freedoms; it should, indeed, make us warm to our rights.

In another age, it was thought sensible to try to understand the hatred in the eyes of our enemies, but now it seems we consider it wiser just to devalue the nature of our citizenship.

What’s more - it won’t work. Nick Clegg has pointed to the gigantic cost and fantastic hubris involved in this scheme, but recent gaffes with personal information have shown just how difficult it is to control and protect data.

A poll of doctors undertaken by doctors.net.uk has today shown that a majority of doctors believe that the National Programme for IT - seeking to contain all the country’s medical records - will not be secure.

In fact, it is causing great worry. Many medical professionals fear that detailed information about each of us will soon be whizzing haphazardly from one place to another, leaving patients at the mercy of the negligent, the nosy, the opportunistic and the exploitative.

“Only people with something to hide will fear the introduction of compulsory ID cards.”

That is what they say, and it sounds perfectly practical. If you think about it for a minute, though, it begins to sound less than practical and more like an affront to the reasonable (and traditional) notion that the state should mind its own business.

In a just society, what you have to hide is your business, until such times as your actions make it the business of others. Infringing people’s rights is not an ethical form of defence against imaginary insult.

You shouldn’t have to tell the government your eye colour if you don’t want to, never mind your maiden name, your height, your personal persuasions in this or that direction, all to be printed up on a laminated card under some compulsory picture, to say you’re one of us.

You weren’t born to be one of us, that is something you choose, and to take the choice out of it is wrong. It marks the end of privacy, the end of civic volition, the end of true citizenship.

1. Thou shall not rent the movie Calender Girls.2. If you’ve known a guy for more than 24 hours, his sister is off limits forever! Unless you actually marry her.

3. When questioned by a buddy’s wife, girlfriend, mother, father, priest, shrink, dentist, accountant, or dog walker, you need not and should not provide any useful information as to his whereabouts. You are even permitted to deny his very existence.

4. Unless he murdered someone in your immediate family, you must bail a friend out of jail within 24 hours.

5. You may exaggerate any anecdote told in a bar by 50% without recrimination; beyond that, anyone within earshot is allowed to yell out “BULLSHIT!” (Exception: When trying to pick up a girl, the allowable exaggeration is 400%)

6. Under no circumstances may two men share an umbrella.

7. The minimum amount of time you have to wait for another guy is 5 minutes. The maximum is 6 minutes. For a girl, you are required to wait 10 minutes for every point of hotness she scores on the classic 1-10 babe scale.

8. Complaining about the brand of free beverages in a buddy’s refrigerator is forbidden. But you may gripe if the temperature is unsuitable.

9. A friend must be permitted to borrow anything you own - grill, car, firstborn child - within 12 hr notice. Women or anything considered “lucky” are not applicable in this case.

10. Agreeing to distract the skanky friend of a hot babe that your buddy is trying to hook up with is your legal duty. Should you get carried away with your good deed and end up having sex with the beast, your pal is forbidden to ever speak of it.

11. On a road trip, the strongest bladder determines pit stops, not the weakest.

12. Before dating a buddy’s ex you are required to ask his permission and he in return is required to grant it. He is however allowed to say, “man, you’re gonna love the way she licks your balls”.

13. Women who claim they “love to watch sports” must be treated as spies until they demonstrate knowledge of the game and the ability to pick a Buffalo wing clean.

14. If a man’s zipper is down, that’s his problem - You didn’t see nothin’.

15. No man is ever required to buy a birthday present for another man. In fact, even remembering a best friend’s birthday is strictly optional, and slightly gay.

16. You must offer heartfelt condolences over the death of a girlfriend’s cat, even if it was you who secretly set it on fire, and threw it into a ceiling fan.

17. While your girlfriend must bond with your buddy’s girlfriends within 30 minutes of meeting them, you are not required to make nice with her gal pal’s boyfriends - Low level sports bonding is all the law requires.

18. Unless you have a lucrative endorsement contract, never appear in public wearing more than one Nike swoosh.

19. When stumbling upon other guys watching a sporting event, you may always ask the score of the game in progress, but you may never ask who is playing.

20. When your girlfriend/wife expresses a desire to fix her ugly, whiny friend up with your pal, you must grant permission, but only if you have ample time to warn your friend to prepare his excuse about joining the priesthood.

21. Only in a situation of mortal danger or ass peril are you permitted to kick another member of the male species in the testicles.

22. Unless you’re in prison, never fight naked.

23. If your buddy is outnumbered outmanned, or too drunk to defend himself, you must jump into the fight. Exception: If within the past 24 hours his actions have caused you to think “What this guy needs is a good ass whuppin’, then you may sit back and enjoy.

24. A man in the company of a hot, suggestively dressed woman must remain sober enough to fight.

25. When picking players for sports teams it is permissible to skip over your buddy in favour of better athletes - as long as you don’t let him be the last sorry son of a bitch standing on the sideline.

26. If you compliment a guy on his six-pack, you better be referring to his beer.

27. Never join your girlfriend/wife in ragging on a buddy of yours, unless she is withholding sex, pending your response.

28. Phrases that may NOT be uttered to another man while weight lifting:
“Yeah, baby, push it!”
“C’mon, give me one more! Harder!”
“Another set and we can hit the showers”
“Nice ass, are you a Sagittarius?”

29. Never hesitate to reach for the last beer or the last slice of pizza, but not both. That’s just mean.

30. Never talk to another man in the bathroom unless you’re on equal footing: either both urinating or both waiting in line. In all other situations, a nod will do just fine.

31. Never allow a telephone conversation with a woman to go on longer than you are able to have sex with her.

32. You can not rat out a friend who show’s up to work or class with a massive hangover, however you may: hide the aspirin, smear his chair with limburger cheese, turn the brightness on his computer way up so he thinks its broken, or have him paged every seven minutes.

33. If your buddy is trying to hook up with a girl, you may sabotage him only in a manner that gives you no chances of getting any either.

34. Before allowing a drunken friend to cheat on his girl, you must attempt one intervention. If he can get up on his feet, look you in the eye, and deliver a “Fuck off!” then you are absolved from all responsibility. Later on it is ok that you have no idea what his girlfriend is talking about.

35. The morning after you and a babe, who was formerly “just a friend”, go at it, the fact that you’re feeling weird and guilty is no reason not to jump on her again before there is a discussion about what a big mistake it was.

36. When using a urinal in a public restroom, a buffer zone of at least one urinal will exist at all times. If the only empty urinal is directly next to an occupied on, then you are still required to wait.

37. When coming to a room which you know is occupied by your friend and possibly another girl, you must knock and wait for an adequate response. If no response occurs, and the door is locked, a 10 minute period is required before knocking again.

38. If you accidentally touch or brush against any part of another man below the waist, it is an understood accident, and NO apologies or any reference to the occurrence is necessary.

39. Any dispute lasting any longer than 3 minutes must be settled by rock, paper, scissors. There is no argument too important for this determining method.

40. Only acceptable time when a man is allowed to cry:
When a heroic dog dies to save his master.
After being struck in the testicles with anything moving faster than 7 mph.
When your date is using her teeth.
The day Anna Kornikova chooses a husband.

41. If a hot girl shall happen to pass by while you are in an arms reach of your buddy, you must, tap him on the shoulder to make him aware of the babe.

42. A man’s shoes may not intentionally match any other article of clothing on his body.

43. No man shall ever allow anyone to speak ill of The Simpsons or any Rocky movie. (Exception: Rocky V)

44. Any object thrown with reasonable speed and accuracy, MUST be caught.

45. No man shall ever keep track of, or count, the amount of beers he has drunk in a night.

46. It is permissible to consume a fruity chick drink only when you’re sunning on a tropical beach, and it’s delivered by a topless supermodel, and it’s free.

47. Under no circumstances may two non-related men share a bed or anything which could be perceived as a mattress.

48. If you jiggle more than twice, you’re playing with it.

49. A man shall never help another man apply sun tan oil.

50. It is the God given duty of every man to assist any other man that may be in need of assistance in obtaining a threesome with two girls.

In my goal to launching a website design company, I’ve found myself spending more time sketching out ideas and researching possible opportunities. One side effect of this is I needed more time in the day - it gets tricky trying to juggle full time work, writing a blog and researching a new business venture. There are competing things constantly vying for my time and I need more of it.

As a remedy for this, I’ve decided to wake up at 6am each day and blocking out 60 mins in the morning before I start getting ready for work. Trying to wake up at this ungodly hour so far has been quite challenging but rewarding too. I’m getting more done and because of this I feel less cranky too.

The following are techniques I have found to work for me:

• Have a reason to get up. The most important thing when doing something unpleasant is to have a reason to do it. Make it clear to yourself exactly why you want to get up and visualise the long term goals you wish to accomplish. Some people want to get up early to seek their life goals, others want to use that time to do exercise or prepare lunch to bring to work or to find quiet time to do the things that never get done. Whatever your reason, make it clear to your mind why you want to get up early.
• Ignore your first reaction. This is an odd one for me. I’ve found that I was making excuses to stay in bed - “I need the rest”, “It’s too early”, “It can wait”, “It’s nice and warm here” and so forth. During these initial days, I’ve found it useful to tell myself to ignore my first reaction and ask what is my second reaction. My second reaction always tends to be focused on my reason for getting up. Once you start focusing on the reason and not the excuse, you’ll find it becomes easier to get up. However, in the last few days, I’ve found my first reaction has been positive. I actually want to get up.
• Be productive with your time. For me, I’ve found that it was important to be productive with my extra time. It wasn’t enough to just wake up early, I needed to see results. If you commit to a reason for getting up early, you need to follow through. It is much easier to convince yourself the next morning when you know the time is going to be well spent based on the consistent results you have been achieving. For example, if you say you’re going to exercise for 30 mins, then do so. Do not just exercise for 15 mins or 20 mins. Never lie to yourself. It is a trust you cannot abuse. If your subconscious know that you won’t do what you say you want to do by getting up early, it’ll sabotage your efforts and dilute your commitment.
• Another 10 mins is a trap. If you find yourself thinking I’ll get up in just another 10 mins, stop! This is a trap. Sometimes another 10 mins would lead to another 10 mins and another. In the most likely scenario that initial 10 mins become an hour. Even if that 10 mins is only 10 mins, it is 10 mins less than what you committed yourself to.
• Wake up early even in the weekend. This one is a subtle one. Your reason to waking up early may not always apply to every day. For example, if my reason for waking up early is to make lunch for work, it won’t apply for weekends. However, I think that it might be essential to wake up at the same time consistently irrespective of whether you need to or not. We are all ultimately creatures of habit. Our bodies can be taught and trained to be early risers. If we establish a consistent pattern for waking up early and acknowledging to our body that this is an ongoing requirement, it will change its rhythm to accommodate this. If your original reason does not apply every day, you may need to find an additional reason for the other days. There is nothing to prevent you having multiple reasons for getting up early.
• Listen to your body. I’m not an expert with health and diet. However I do know that it is important to listen to your body. The important point to note here is that we intend to get up early to be more productive. If your body tells you that you are tired, you should listen to it. This should dictate what time you sleep but not what time you get up. Here’s why. I find that my time in the mornings tend to be more productive. I’m more alert, there are less distractions and I am committed to starting the day off doing things that are important to me. In the evenings, the opposite is true - I’m tired, there are distractions and I already feel I have gone through a long day and so am not as committed. There’s also another reason which is best explained with simple maths. If I am 50% productive because I’m tired, doing 1 hour of real work requires 2 hours of my time. I’d rather do that work in 1 hour the next morning when I’m 100% productive.

At this stage, I’ve only experimented with being an early riser for a day or so. Currently, I’m approaching this empirically - simple trial and error. I believe each of us is different. Some things which work for me may not work for you and vice versa. The most important thing to remember is to find the things that work for you.

There are several things I’d like to try out more:

• Would consistent exercise reduce my sleep requirements?
• Does caffeine help in the long run?
• How do I decide when is the best time for me to sleep?
• What alternative sleep patterns are out there?
• Can I change my sleeping arrangement to make me more restful with less time?

Over the next few months, I’ll experiment with these options and hopefully gain some insights into their respective advantages and disadvantages. I’ll also report back on my productivity gains.

Note, a quick search on Google pointed me to an excellent blog run by Steve Pavlina. In his blog, he discusses his approach to being an early riser in two posts (part one and two) which are interesting reads. He has also tried Polyphasic sleep with some success. Polyphasic sleep deals with taking short sleep periods throughout the day at regular intervals instead of the big 8 hour chunk at the end of each day.

If you like my post or have suggestions on things I could try, please leave a comment. If you wish to become an early riser yourself, please try out the tips I’ve highlighted above. Any feedback you can provide based on your own experiences would be most welcomed.

Good luck!