1) Produce, don't consume.
2) Achieve small goals.
3) Say no.
I used to work at a place that had a 10 am stand up meeting (once headed by the author of the Information Diet, incidentally). My trick was that I'd try to get in a code commit before that stand up. If I was able to accomplish that I'd be more likely to have a productive day.
1) You must consume in order to be exposed to new things. If you're just producing you will tend to be limited, the world is much larger than what you're producing
2) having BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) is helpful to keep you going and not just do small goals for small goals'sake
3) Say yes to new opportunities
The 10AM code commit is a good trick. Might be helpful to resist the urge to check Twitter & HN at 9AM "just for 10 minutes".
In my experience, hyperbole serves me well in my goals. "Produce more than you consume" is more defendable in terms of online critique, and you ARE right. But I have enough forces bombarding me with reminders to consume (advertising, internet, TV, procrastination...) In this tug-of-war, these rules are the only thing pulling in the opposite direction. I want my rules to be strongly worded enough to pull me back to the right mindset/goal.
