Productivity can be hard to nail down and depends on your role. I’m in the problem solving business, so when I go in to a spell of what you might call focused “productivity” it’s culmination of all the research I’ve done, the conversations over lunch, the semi related article I read the day before and the magic of a good night’s sleep putting it all in order somehow.

It’s about added value. There’s so much time there when I’m not in Sketch cranking out screens. So producing “things” isn’t necessarily being productive.

So to address the question part I’d say 3 hours of conscious effort sounds about right.

I like it. Just not on Mailchimp.

I don't know. I was thinking to keep my options open for when the robot overlords show up. Don't want them to miss me on LinkedIn.

In my experience, a portfolio does have benefits over just a blurb and contact details, especially if you don't have a strong network already in place, but it's a question of content and what you're trying to get across.

Yes, if you have a strong reputation in the wider community then it might not be needed but 99% of designers and developers don't so a properly structured portfolio that explains your method and the outcomes can only help. If nothing else it forces you to crystalise your work in your own head and have the right language to talk about it when you get the meetings.

Side-point: Don't waste too much time scouring the web for job posts and waiting for clients to post them. They don't post most of their openings unless their network options are exhausted. Get yourself in their network. Email companies you want to work with and introduce yourself. And get a strong LinkedIn profile, believe it or not, it's not all recruiters on there ;)

The prog rock of guidelines. They aren't as much a set of brand guidelines as an exercise in branding and ramping up design cred (visually at least). Fine for sharing with Joe Public but I wouldn't like to think I was using them as a reference for anything practical.

1. Disregard 1-20

2. Erase this post from your memory and design something

The longer you spend in the job the more annoying these articles become. That goes for most sources of info, be it blogs, tools or books. They just get less relevant once you learn (and continue to learn) the core principles of what you do.

Trend predictions can almost always be retitled 'What's happened over the last 2 years?' or 'What's a fundamental part of my job?'. And we still talk about trends.

it's an open sign alright

I'd be very careful with this. I'm with the previous comments, the main use cases that stand out are not good ones. This could get noticed but it might be attached to a nasty story down the line.

I'd take that a step further. Find the companies you'd like to work with and just send a speculative email. I did this the last time I was looking and was surprised by the number of positive responses I got. If you're on the radar before they even post a job then you're a step closer.