One thing I really suggest for those who are still playing professionally is to rent out a small office space. Playing at home is great, but it also leads to a lack of productivity in my opinion. If I was continuing as a poker professional I would SNAP get an office. The rent would be minimal compared to the extra productivity you would see in your game and your life. The rent would also be tax-deductible so you're really only paying 70% of the rent, not 100%.



This got really long/personal, so it might be TL: DR, but I always feel like context is important in these situations.

CLIFFS:
1) Do NOT buy into every other poker player's laziness. YOU are free to make YOUR own choices. Just because some people struggle to play 20hrs/week doesn't mean you can't play 30-40.

2) It is a GRADUAL process as the pooh-bah post said.

3) STRUCTURE!

4) STRUCTURE!!

5) STRUCTURE!!!

6) Make sure your schedule also cooperates well with the schedules of your close friends/family. If you plan on grinding every time you get asked to have fun/hang out, I guarantee you will end up choosing having fun more than you will choose work. This results in a lack of productivity which means for many people they will not hit their goals.

7) European sites are GREAT for productivity for US players. The games are most profitable while you are in your prime mental capacity. Try establishing a normal schedule of grinding hard during the week with some weekend hours if you so desire. For me, however, it worked best to just say there was no chance of grinding on Sat/Sun.

8) It is important to be able to completely detach from poker for at least one day a week. This is why I was so happy when I didn't play on Sat/Sun during football season. If you are hanging out with your friends on a Saturday afternoon while a little voice inside your head is saying, "You have only played 18 hours this week you lazy piece of shit, you should be grinding" you are going to be unhappy. I constantly had this drive to WANT to grind more, but it never happened until I had the structure that allowed it. No inhibitions=more fun.

9) Get a cheap office. Guaranteed productivity increase

10) Living with or getting an office together with a fellow grinder = increased productivity as well as learning

11) Monday was my most profitable day...when I didn't play Sat/Sun. I was fresh off a 2 day break every week. It was GREAT. I played a lot of hours on Monday AND my mental state was sharp/fresh. A great combination. I genuinely missed the grind and was excited to be back at the computer on Monday morning. My hours deteriorated as the weeks progressed as well as my playing ability. Wednesday was kind of a breaking point for me and I believe it was my least profitable day. I would often notice this and play fewer hours to sort of recharge the batteries. This somewhat divided the week up into 2, two day long sessions of grinding (Mon/Tues & Thurs/Fri).

12) It is MUCH easier to grind 5 days/week than it is 6 or 7 days/week. Time off is crucial. It was very easy for me to grind hard Mon/Tues, a little less on Wed, and then grind hard on Thurs/Friday knowing that I had all weekend to relax/recover mentally.



I probably missed some stuff in the cliffs, but basically I just want to point out you need to establish a schedule, but you have to tweak it to maximize productivity at the tables AS WELL AS LIFE.