The most important tasks

I used to enjoy a blog written by Oliver Emberton (he hasn’t posted anything since 2014). These are my notes from one of his posts:

Life is a game of strategy. The key to winning is simply managing your resources. Successful players put their time into the right things. Your top priority should always be mastering where your time goes.

Your willpower level is especially important. Willpower fades throughout the day, and is replenished slightly by eating, and completely by a good night’s sleep. When your willpower is low, you are only able to do things you really want to.

Every decision you have to make costs willpower, and decisions where you have to suppress an appealing option for a less appealing one require a lot of willpower.

So -

Keep your state high.
If you’re hungry, exhausted, or utterly deprived of fun, your willpower will collapse. Ensure you take consistently good care of yourself.

Don’t demand too much willpower from one day.
Spread your most demanding tasks over multiple days, and mix them in with less demanding ones.

Attempt the most important tasks first.
This makes other tasks more difficult, but makes your top task more likely.

Reduce the need to use willpower by reducing choices.
Eliminate distractions.