Changing the workplace

The office, meetings and conference calls

See also: On how meetings and conference calls are disruptive to a data scientist

Impossible Deliverables

Time is a Finite Resource

Lists are the enemy

From Coding Horror:

1. Lists give the illusion of progress.
2. Lists give the illusion of accomplishment.
3. Lists make you feel guilty for not achieving these things.
4. Lists make you feel guilty for continually delaying certain items.
5. Lists make you feel guilty for not doing things you don't want to be doing anyway.
6. Lists make you prioritize the wrong things.
7. Lists are inefficient. (Think of what you could be doing with all the time you spend maintaining your lists!)
8. Lists suck the enjoyment out of activities, making most things feel like an obligation.
9. Lists don't actually make you more organized long term.
10. Lists can close you off to spontaneity and exploration of things you didn't plan for. (Let's face it, it's impossible to really plan some things in life.)

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Where the magic happens

To achieve what you want you need to leave your comfort zone. Regularly. How else will you expand your comfort zone. Yep - you will fail more often - but you'll have a load more experience to draw on.