Destructive leadership rations energy. Productive leadership pumps energy into everyone freely. To share so much, we first have to find and tap for ourselves a virtually unlimited source. And where will find such a source? It’s right here and it’s called appreciation. In your corner, Mike
Which is easier? Trying to keep track in your head of the ever-increasing pile of stuff to do or learning to write it all down and reviewing it once a day? Ya, no. It’s not the former. In your corner, Mike
Sometimes all we need is a teeny win. Committing to taking a step in the right direction–even a step that is not in the wrong direction–does the trick. We will either launch ourselves where we want to go or gain enough momentum to take another teeny step. What’s your one wee step, now? In your […]
A large pile of tasks can make us feel anxious, annoyed, or apoplectic. We think that these feelings are a reaction to the pile–a call to buckle down, push harder, and make stuff happen. Nope. That feeling is the wiser part of us sending us a memo: “Never mind the pile. You’re fine. You’re just thinking about it the wrong […]
A productivity system helps us capture, organize, and plan things to do. Whether we use an electronic or paper-based system, we want it to be fast, seamless, and very easy to use. So we seek out the best techniques and tools to craft our system. But that quest works against our productivity. It wastes our […]
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 to avoid it until it goes away or becomes unbearable. But both of these approaches drain us. A better way is to ask ourselves, “What end result do I desire […]
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 get full of stuff to do that we haven’t done yet. As the pile of things to do grows, we add “do it today” flags and reminders to all sorts […]
Here is a rather unusual productivity boost that takes just 2 minutes per day: set simple, quiet bedtime and waking up buzz-raising routines. Each night before falling asleep, take a minute. Review what you appreciated that day. You may think of anything–an accomplishment, a happy thought, a kindness, a win–or several things, big or small. […]
One of the main causes of procrastination is confusion about what to do next. When we do not know the best next, small, discreet step we can take to move a project forward, we become overwhelmed with details, lost in possibilities, or stymied by what seem to be insurmountable obstacles. The cure is remarkably easy: […]
We often misinterpret the pressure that we feel to do more, to be more productive. We think it means we need to get busy, work harder, and churn through more tasks on our task lists. So we do. And we long for relief and release. But productivity is not how much we get done in […]