How To Say No To Emails, Meetings, Etc.
It’s hard to say no to all the emails, meetings, interruptions, and other demands on our time. It is hard, that is, until we commit …
effectiveness
The Thinnest Sliver
What is something you really want to do or even might want but haven’t done yet? What’s the smallest, thinnest sliver of a possible next …
Getting Unpleasant Stuff Done
What’s the best way to get something unpleasant done? We can use various techniques to push ourselves to do it. Or we can find ways …
Happy New Week!
What if we could only get three things done today? Or if we could only get three things done this week? The answer is straightforward: we’d get …
Standard Stress Strategy Backfires
When we fall a bit behind in our work, we deploy our standard strategy: working a bit harder. But when we are feeling overwhelmed, our …
Task Systems Too Full
Have you ever started using a new productivity system (app, list, notebook, cards, etc.) then abandoned it? This usually happens because we let our systems …
What Does Your Work Pie Look Like?
We can categorize any work into three types: routine, project, and fire-fighting. Routine work is mostly repetitive. Examples include cranking the same widget over and …
Three to Four Things
If we choose 3-4 projects to make significant progress on this week and if we, each day, choose 3-4 things to accomplish that day, we …
The First Step to Being Powerful in Life and Leadership
To be powerful, our first step is learn to tell it apart from force. The difference is difficult to describe but easy to see. We …
How to Work on What Really Needs to Get Done
Productivity experts point to email, messaging, and meetings as major sources of distraction and stress. They have become fond saying that we should stop doing …