How do I put in more hours/week. (Long/Introspective)

[Jeff W]

Over the past 8 weeks I have played 100 hours. I have averaged 12.5 hours/week. I do not have another job and I don't have any responsibilities. My hourly goal for each week has fluctuated from 20-25 hours, but I have probably met it only once or twice in that time period.

I'm looking for ideas on how I can consistently put in more hours. My short term goal is 25 hours/week. When I was at school, I was regularly putting in 30-50 hours a week while completing senior year for a physics degree. I know that I can competently play many more hours than I am.

Here are some ideas I have on how I can play more hours:

1. Use the tilt blocker program and setting Pokertracker to update once/minute.

The former to prevent me from knowing how much money I have at the tables and the latter to prevents me from looking through my results in PT without dealing with lag every minute. Both of these will make poker less stressful and I should have less reason to procrastinate.

2. Reduce the time I spend watching Television and web surfing with parental controls.

I'm not sure how to implement a fail-safe solution to this problem. My general idea is to lock myself out of watching television or surfing the web during certain hours of the day(20-21 hours/day). Anyone have specific ideas how I can accomplish this?

3. Maintain greater emotional control while playing through mindfulness.

I was making progress on this issue by using basic Zen mindfulness techniques. I need to get back to mindfulness and meditate daily to keep me centered.

4. Self-accountability through written records.

This worked moderately well for me in the past. Earlier this year, I kept a calendar on my dresser and mark down how many hands I played on a given day. I plan to resume this practice and I will evaluate how well I adhered to my regimen.

Thanks you for listening to my long, introspective post. I appreciate any advice you can provide. There is no better time than today to begin righting the ship.