Often times our productivity on a given task is very much tied to the time of day.  For example, I find that exercising in the afternoon seems to work best for me because it lets me unwind from the day.  I've always found it odd that my most productive times for programming are after 10pm.  There are obviously advantages to doing things late in the evening--fewer distractions, etc.  However, even when I'm not going to be interrupted during the day, I still can't seem to get into the "zone" as much as I can late at night. I think I've finally solved the mystery.  When I'm working on a task that where I don't know how long it will take, I generally do better when I don't have any hard … [Read more...]