I feel your pain.
That’s why I’m so enthusiastic about the Zettelkasten and Nick Milo’s Linking Your Thinking work and I would recommend exploring those dimensions. It’s not just “another method of taking notes”, they embrace emergence as the core process and that’s what makes them so valuable.
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As a research scientist (Neuroscience) the majority of my projects last months to years. And while I try to plan long term about how long I think things should take using a Gantt chart or something similar, it almost always comes back to having a plan for the week and focusing on execution of tasks on a daily basis. Omnifocus is my tool of choice, and make use of the Omni Group tools for just about everything else.
I NEVER attain the mythical “Inbox Zero”. Science is like the mythical monster Hydra: as soon as you cut off one head, multiple more grow in its place.
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What does this look like visually ?
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Ever since you posted this, I tried an experiment and so far I like how it’s working. I created a list in my system called “Move it Forward.” And have put tasks relating to each or my long-term projects that require consistent effort over the long haul on it. Most are just recurring tasks that serve as a tickler to “do something.” Sometimes I do block out time, but mostly I just need a reminder to go put some work into the project. I know what to do when I get in front of the project. Any real “next actions” on the projects get handled like the other normal things in my system. This is good for me because important, but not urgent, priorities are not falling through the cracks.
Since implementing this strategy, I’ve actually been able to complete some milestones that had been logjammed for me. Not to mention, I’ve found little pockets of time to work on things that have otherwise been simmering on the back burner for far too long.
I also found that sometimes when my attention is flagging and I wander around the internet, I could be using that time for other unimportant things that are still tied to my goals. I called that list “healthy snacks.”
So now instead of drifting through article after article on algorithms for quickly solving Rubik’s cubes, I can drift through articles and videos that aren’t all that important but are still aligned with my goals. I can waste time in helpful ways now. It’s fun and minimizes the guilt. 
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I’m curious how/if this has worked out for you over the last few months?
John, it can be fun to sit down and write out all the steps for a project then forget if you put it in Things, Notability, Agenda, Reminders or scattered throughout. But implementing step one, then two… blech. Although it certainly does help to get it written out.
Some people can stick to checklists. I don’t usually bother. If they are not staring me in the face, they travel to the back burner. But sometimes just the act of writing your plans out helps you get organized. My Creative Writing, no less.
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This has been working pretty well. I will edit this post with details later today. I had been caught up with a birthday party for a 5-year-old.
EDIT
@JohnAtl - Following is my confessional for you and all our MPU friends. So, this system is working in part and failing in part. But the failure “in part” is (I believe) a failure of habits of mine that need to change but that I resist. The theory behind my system is twofold.
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A number of projects that I’m trying to accomplish that are important to me, but rank low in priority often get neglected and atrophy. But If I could invest 10, 15, 20 minutes on a regular basis, then the project would actually move along and stay on target. On truly “inspired” days, I could devote a great deal more time to achieve a milestone or complete the project altogether. The idea behind this is that this particular thing is important to me, so if I’m going to spend a few minutes distracted from my primary work, wouldn’t it be better to channel the distraction to a productive goal.
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On “real” priority work projects that have a long tail, this system would enable to me avoid procrastination on the project by chipping away consistently on it. By the time I get close the the deadline the project would be near complete, or far enough along that achieving the deadline would be stress free. Because I’m spending such a tiny amount of time in a particular session, it should not distract me from accomplishing the more immediate priorities that have my attention.
The theory works in practice. And it has worked great. It falls apart in two ways. First, sometimes, I’m so busy that these percolating projects fall by the way side. Then, I have “past due” move-it-forwards on the task manager than then cause all sorts of stress. Maybe some people aren’t bothered by this, but seeing overdue tasks pile up is hard for me.
Second, in some cases the problem is that my own bad habits sometimes creep up and I fall back on the old ways. So, instead of working on something I care about, I watch an 18-minute Youtube on “Why String Theory is Wrong.” Nothing wrong with that (assuming one is otherwise acting responsibly), but it prevents me from making progress on a goal. [I’m still doing far better than I was, as I reported in my previous post. Healthy Snacks has been helpful, but sometimes I still go for the junk food.]
Thus, I can report the system works and seems to do it’s job quite nicely. The human being executing the system has to work on himself just a little bit longer to get better results. But I can say, where it’s been working, it works great. Also, I can say that (not being so hard on myself), I’ve done a substantially better job this year accomplishing a number of goals that I otherwise might have had to delay until next year. I’ve also got them done much more quickly and efficiently than I otherwise would have. I’m pleased with that.
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I’m want to use this as a chapter title when I finally write about my college experience.
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Those sorts of times are what I call “interstitial time”.
In a “busy household” with other people, heck even one other or the cat 
that can be all you get. That’s how I get writing done - often.
The trouble with fragmentary time is twofold:
- Context switch discomfort.
- Set up / tear down time.
I think I can manage the latter - by using things with low setup time - such as Drafts or OmniFocus. Context switch remains a problem, though.
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String theory? LOL!!. You are too funny. Read “Beautiful Mind”.
Try sitting down and doing your project for five minutes. You’ll get started and probably not want to stop.
If you need any help with your five year old, well that’s my line of work (joy).
Agreed on the context switching, I generally need a bit of warming up before I can really get into the thick of a deep subject, so I tend not to put “deep work” sort of tasks in the small amounts of time (5-15 minutes).
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