Thanks for the tips, I'll keep this going although it's very off-topic, hopefully this will get downvoted into hiding so it doesn't pollute the thread too much.
I've been fit before getting a desk job and caffeine doesn't do much for me, so these are out.
Sleep impacts my ability to be productive I have noticed, so I am indeed getting as much and as good quality sleep as I can while having a baby.
My current rituals are, have something I enjoy for breakfast, ideally while in front of the computer doing something work related. I feel like ego depletion is a real thing for me, and I am more likely to be able to focus if I baby myself in some ways.
I take very (too) frequent breaks and walk around, get coffee etc. without judging myself for slacking, and the positive attitude helps me feel good enough to really buckle down and get work done when I feel I really need to.
I try to stop working for the day at a point where picking back up should be straight forward.
I also started getting to work earlier in the day, before most people, so I get alone time in the morning. This works out great for me despite not being much of a morning person.
Seeing as I need to use music to drown out noise, I choose agreeable classical music, nothing avant-garde or noisy, when I really need to get things done. I try to avoid music that I enjoy too much, as I tend to get sucked into it and find myself hand-picking "just 1 more" song.
Or when music gets tiresome but noise is still present, something like brain.fm helps me eek out just some more attention.
Finally, although it's a bit of a cheat, some autonomy in what you work on helps me immensely. I am way more likely to procrastinate if I have to do something too hard (for my current skillset, even if technically accessible) or too uninteresting. So I leave these tasks for someone else and try to pick up things that I am more likely to keep working on.
All in all, at work I can manage myself fine due to the added structure and the routine around it.
I have a lot more trouble getting things done outside of it.
FWIW, it sounds like you're dedicating tons of time and mental energy to dealing with this. Honestly you sound like me on my worst days before I started treating my ADD.
I sincerely wish you the best. My one parting piece of advice, as someone who I think has been exactly where you are, is to connect with a healthcare provider that can test you for ADD and help you find more effective solutions.
That's advice that I really, really wish someone had given me 15 years earlier.
I've been fit before getting a desk job and caffeine doesn't do much for me, so these are out.
Sleep impacts my ability to be productive I have noticed, so I am indeed getting as much and as good quality sleep as I can while having a baby.
My current rituals are, have something I enjoy for breakfast, ideally while in front of the computer doing something work related. I feel like ego depletion is a real thing for me, and I am more likely to be able to focus if I baby myself in some ways. I take very (too) frequent breaks and walk around, get coffee etc. without judging myself for slacking, and the positive attitude helps me feel good enough to really buckle down and get work done when I feel I really need to.
I try to stop working for the day at a point where picking back up should be straight forward.
I also started getting to work earlier in the day, before most people, so I get alone time in the morning. This works out great for me despite not being much of a morning person.
Seeing as I need to use music to drown out noise, I choose agreeable classical music, nothing avant-garde or noisy, when I really need to get things done. I try to avoid music that I enjoy too much, as I tend to get sucked into it and find myself hand-picking "just 1 more" song. Or when music gets tiresome but noise is still present, something like brain.fm helps me eek out just some more attention.
Finally, although it's a bit of a cheat, some autonomy in what you work on helps me immensely. I am way more likely to procrastinate if I have to do something too hard (for my current skillset, even if technically accessible) or too uninteresting. So I leave these tasks for someone else and try to pick up things that I am more likely to keep working on.
All in all, at work I can manage myself fine due to the added structure and the routine around it. I have a lot more trouble getting things done outside of it.