AU6plus12

Hi Michael - my only add comes from my personal experience and may not be relevant as I didn't do CS or Engineering. I did however suffer curiosity overload and needed to find a way to focus, quick.

Know yourself - take a look at your past habits. Where did you feel you won? Focus your efforts there and build on that. Try to get a win every day.

Accountability - I learned I am only accountable when it impacts others. So I set all crucial goals to girlfriend, family, friends, co-founders, team, and customers. That way when it doesn't get done, it impacts me directly!

Diversify - I get most stuck when I think about my business for weeks on end. Help a fellow CEO noodle a problem, and I get focused. So MANAGED distraction could be the key to focus.

From what you wrote, time-blocking seems great by rewarding yourself curiosity blocks and productivity blocks.

For me, my strategy and planning is most productive before work, just after lunch and after 2100. So the day is all about my team and helping them out. In between, I allow myself to read industry pubs. Hacker News is my "diversification" time to immerse in other's challenges.

Hope this helps and keep up the curiosity, but take a breather, language lesson or play guitar to take your mind away so you can properly focus.

Cheers,

MC

First, unplug.

Then, go it alone, even if just for a little bit.

You seem to be doing all the right things with food, sights, and meeting people, but try sitting at a dim sum bar and watching how the locals interact. Paper and pen to capture your thoughts or an old school camera.

Was just in China and certainly not easy as an English speaker, but a group is a non-starter for locals. Of course this assumes that you are traveling to explore a new culture.

If all else fails and you want to stay with your friends, then try making the opposite decisions as normal. If you would follow them somewhere, push for what you want. If you are always deciding, just go with the flow. Where you say yes, say no, and where you say no, say yes.

Either way, unplug. The answer to better travels isn't here in HN, it's right where you are right now. It's about asking for directions in hand gestures rather than using technology. It's about not speaking to family and friends for a couple of weeks, but following your gut no matter the outcome. It's about making brand new friends that create a whole new adventure.

I hope we hear from you when you return to the land of the web with so much to tell and share!