WHATEVER happened to Red October?
On this note…
Routine may be boring, but it is extremely efficient.
In the past, my day started between 8.45am and 10.15am, depending on how late I worked the previous day. These days, I arrive at the office at 8.15am and leave at 5.15pm; at 12.30pm, I take a lunchtime break of 30-45 minutes (a bit longer if I go out for a photo-walk); at 5.00pm, I start packing, which leaves me with about 15 minutes to address late issues; and, just before leaving, I tick off my completed tasks and jot down markers for unfinished work (yep, I leave lines of code unfinished, too). The next day, the same routine is repeated.
What I like about this are the constant productivity and timeboxed work-mindset: my output is regular and predictable, and when I leave the office, I can allow myself to leave all worries about work behind.
As I said, boring but effective.
Eddy.