Do you happen to know what one actually does in order to "pursue constant discipline and self-monitoring"? Mindfulness meditation is not really that effective, but I might have been doing it wrong. Running in the morning seems to have had some effect but I can't yet tell. The only things that have been effective have been applying external constraints by:
- Getting married to someone willing to yell at me for getting distracted.
- Installing http://selfcontrolapp.com/ and putting it on before I go to bed.
- Putting my smartphone near a co-worker's desk when I get in in the morning.
- Making sure my monitor faces out towards the common area so someone could look over my shoulder.
- Keeping a lab notebook so that I can remember the state in my head if I do get distracted.
- During meetings, pushing people to be very clear on what problem we are trying to solve.
It works okay. I am a fairly productive engineer as long as I am on a team where I can succeed at that last bit. But I've never been able to get rid of the internal urge to check my email or HN or Twitter. Or worse, to look things up about, for example, the role that the Harlem Hellfighters and other WWI vets played in the Civil Rights movement of the 1920's and 30's. So whenever I have a weekend to myself to work on projects in my spare time, I don't get anything done and I haven't known how to even make progress toward fixing that.