One Habit of Highly Successful Mathematicians

I’m currently reading Albert-László Barabási‘s second book, Bursts. Though the book is primarily about predicting human behavior in the future, the book is peppered with interesting anecdotes about historical figures (i.e. from the past). One such figure mentioned prominently is Siméon-Denis Poisson, the 19th-century French mathematician. A element which may seem trivial out of context but is rather crucial in the book is Barabási’s description of Poisson’s organizational habits (a sort of 19th-century French GTD):

Poisson distribution. Poisson process. Poisson equation. Poisson kernel. Poisson regression. Poisson summation formula. Poisson’s spot. Poisson’s ratio. Poisson bracket. Euler-Poisson-Darboux equation. This is only a partial list, and yet it shows the degree to which Siméon-Denis Poisson’s work has impacted just about all branches of science. But what is so impressive is not the volume of his contributions but rather their depth, raising a puzzling question: How did Poisson manage to work simultaneously on so many quite different problems and yet stay sufficiently focused to offer deep and lasting contributions?

Well, we had a secret: a notebook and a tiny habit.

Each time Poisson encountered a problem he though fascinating, he would resist the temptation to savor it. He pulled out his notebook instead and made a note of it and promptly returned to the problem that had absorbed him before the interruption. Once he solved the problem at hand, he mulled over the list of problems scribbled in his notebook, then picking as his next challenge the one he found the most interesting.

Poisson’s little secret was lifelong, careful prioritizing.

So, this essentially describes the polar opposite of my work habits, which currently consist of frenetically switching from task to task to ensure that I complete none of them. I’m thinking of giving the priority list a try – has anybody tried a scheme like this and had success with it? Would be curious to hear your story!