My productivity plan for July to September of 2024

This is the fourth edition of my productive plan. The last three months were very intense, my PhD started taking shape and I was involved in of my coworker's projects - the second of which had a paper deadline on October the 2nd. Due to this, I was not able to prepare a new productivity plan in time and spend the first couple of days of October without one. Immediately, I wasted hours every day on my phone proving the need for a plan. My next three months will be much more chill (I hope) and I want to try some new things out.

Sleeping enough
My plan is to go to sleep every day at 22:45 and awake at 6:45, so I can make it to my workplace before 8:00. In the past, I have had trouble waking up on time, mainly because I went to bed too late. As a remedy, I have installed blockers on my laptop and smartphone (Cold Turkey and StayFocused) that prevent me from using my devices from 22:00 onwards. On my smartphone, some apps, such as phone (for emergencies) and Maps (for getting home) are exempt from this, but all of my regular communication and entertainment apps are blocked.
After my devices are shut off, I will read or do some cleaning and hopefully natural tiredness will set in.
While the two programs to block my devices work solidly and have served me well in the past, there are still ways to disable them. As a safeguard, if I circumvent these blocks (or use another device), I will have to donate 50€ to an effective charity. Because even a little of bit of light in the bedroom interferes with my sleep quality, I have purchased black-out curtains.
I can choose to not follow these rules while travelling (my usually trips to family and friends do not count).
Changed from 22:30 to 22:00 for my laptop because I rarely managed to go to sleep on time. Added travel exception, because I am usually not productive while travelling anyway and this was very expensive last time.

Keeping a schedule
The last time I tried setting a hard rules for how much I have to be at work, I felt overwhelmed and did not take time to rest when I clearly needed it. So, no rules here.
Nothing changed

Avoiding distractions
The apps which I have installed to block my devices at night also work to block certain websites entirely. I have programmed in a long list of potentially time-wasting websites. Every time, I circumvent the block, I will have to donate 20€ (for each website individually).
At work, I use a Firefox plugin to block distracting websites (Hacker news, etc.), however, the block is very easy to circumvent. If I ever do so (except when a website was blocked inadvertently), I will also have to donate 20€ (for every day where I disable the block and separately for each individual website).
I will try not to use my phone (except for allowed things) from 8 in the morning (optimally, the evening before) to at least 12 on workdays. Twice a month, I can choose one day (Saturday or Sunday) where the rules in this section don't apply. On the day before the chosen day, I have to make a task list with stuff I want to accomplish before I am allowed to browse. I can also set a maximum number of hours etc.

Notetaking
I will use Obsidian for writing down everything I do at work. Obsidian is a markdown editor that allows the user to link pages internally and create a personal knowledge database. I have learned to love it over the last weeks and plan to do a longer write-up on how to use it, as soon as I have got more experience with it.
Nothing changed.

Coffee
I have recently gotten used to drinking coffee and feel that it helps me focus a bit, especially on writing tasks. I plan to experiment with various dosages and maybe try out other compounds. I am especially interested in L-theanine (an amino acid extracted from green tea leaves).
Nothing changed.

Alcohol
Drinking more than 1 or 2 beers will make me wake up feeling groggy and slightly mentally incapacitated the next day. I want to reduce such occasions, but still be able to enjoy having a casual drink. For every session, where I either drink distilled liquors or have more than 1 liter of beer/0.4 liter of wine (beer and wine have to be “added up”), I will donate 50€. When I drink more than 0.5 liter of beer/0.2 liter of wine, I will donate 10€.
Nothing changed.

Music
No rules

Working out
I plan to lift weigths six days a week and go running at least once. I am not assigning any penalties here for now, because I enjoy it a lot and don’t think I will stop without a good reason.
Increased number of weightlifting days, because I am now the proud owner of a home gym. (See One month of having a home gym)

Writing
I have to publish one article a week. If I don't, I have to donate 25€.
*The goal is that I practice writing and think deeply about one topic a seek (See On being boring).

Experiments
No rules.

Distracted eating
No rules.

Beginning and end
This plan goes into effect on the fifth of October 2024 and ends on the 31st of September. Before the second week of January 2025, I need to post a new plan on this website (or an explanation why it would make sense not to). For every day, I delay posting the plan, I need to donate 10€. I also have to publish how often I broke rules.

Miscellaneous rules
I tend to get hyperactive sometimes and jump around my room. I want to channel my energy into more productive outlets. Ever time I do that, i have to donate 10€.

Temporary rules
I want to play around with some short-term commitments as well (such as complete task X until day Y or not touch my phones for 3 days). These, I note down here.

19.10. I have to take care of some money stuff, transfer my workout app and look up how to change my train ticket.

Broken Rules

Schaffe, schaffe, Häusle baue