During the COVID quarantine, I started experiencing some of the worst anxiety I've ever had. Constant, low-level dread about not doing my work well enough, even though feedback from almost everyone around me was positive. After doing some reading and speaking to a therapist, I was diagnosed with … [Read more...] about ADHD + Productivity: Yes, I Did a Thing but not That Thing
Productivity
Preparing to Go All-In for the Holidays
The holidays are around the corner, and there’s no doubt that they will look like nothing we’ve seen before. Socially distanced Secret Santa parties and menorah lightings by the blue light of your computer screen will surely be more common this year than ever before. And while we might be staying in … [Read more...] about Preparing to Go All-In for the Holidays
How to Use the Five Keys to Overcome the Air Sandwich
This is the third post in our three-part series covering the air sandwich. You can read part 1, “The Air Sandwich: Why Your Big Picture and Day-to-Day Reality Don’t Link Up,”, and part 2, "The Five Keys to Overcoming the Air Sandwich". In the first post in the series, I covered the five … [Read more...] about How to Use the Five Keys to Overcome the Air Sandwich
The Five Keys to Overcoming the Air Sandwich
This is the second post in our three-part series covering the air sandwich. Be sure to read part 1, “The Air Sandwich: Why Your Big Picture and Day-to-Day Reality Don’t Link Up." In today’s post, I address the five keys — the foundational virtues and habits — that are necessary for us to truly … [Read more...] about The Five Keys to Overcoming the Air Sandwich
The Air Sandwich: Why Your Big Picture and Day-to-Day Reality Don’t Link Up
One of the reasons your best work might not be getting done is that your day-to-day life doesn’t align with your vision and goals. You feel strain when you’re doing a lot of things — when you’re “accomplishing” a lot (read: checking off to-do list items) — but yet you don’t feel accomplished, … [Read more...] about The Air Sandwich: Why Your Big Picture and Day-to-Day Reality Don’t Link Up
How to Balance Parent and Professional: The Start Finishing Guide to School-Time Productivity
Editor’s note: "How to Balance Parent and Professional: The Start Finishing Guide to School-Time Productivity" is a guest post by Jenn Labin. Like so many other parents (and others) out there, I am in a situation of working full time remotely while also managing kids who are in virtual school. … [Read more...] about How to Balance Parent and Professional: The Start Finishing Guide to School-Time Productivity
Busy by Default
Most of us are quite familiar with busy-ness. While we want full, flourishing lives, we often don’t recognize when we have gotten past the point of being full — when we do and have too much. And this “doing and having too much” leads to a lot of busy-ness. BUSY Has Become Our Default Unlike … [Read more...] about Busy by Default
5 Key Ways to Identify Your New Strengths in 2020
Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Jenn Labin. Starting March 13th of this year, the concepts of routine, consistency, and productivity evaporated from many people’s lives, including mine. (Side note: I wanted to use “sublimated” but found out that word also means, “to divert something into a … [Read more...] about 5 Key Ways to Identify Your New Strengths in 2020
Your Morning Routine: Start Small and Stack
I was talking to an Academy member the other day, who was needing some help figuring out how to chunk and sequence her 12-week project. Instead of focusing on a "work" project, she made the excellent and hard choice to focus on "getting herself together" (her words), since the last year has been a … [Read more...] about Your Morning Routine: Start Small and Stack
4 Practices to Balance Your Solo and Collaborative Work
Over the last few weeks, I've felt that I was in an "I've fallen and can't get up" spiral when it comes to writing. I was on a great streak of drafting posts every day and then I stopped. This isn't the first time a daily blogging stint has expired after about a month. In fact, it's actually more … [Read more...] about 4 Practices to Balance Your Solo and Collaborative Work
How Many Projects Is COVID-19 Creating for You?
In Start Finishing, I defined a project as anything that takes time, energy, and attention to complete. Too many of us are only counting our work or business activities as projects, but the reality is that they only make up a fraction of all of the projects we're carrying. Weddings, backyard … [Read more...] about How Many Projects Is COVID-19 Creating for You?
Three Little Things to Get the Day Back on Track
This morning got on like the start of a country song. I stayed up too late last night, got up late this morning, misplaced things I just had in my hands, and lost twenty minutes in a social-media-and-news clickhole when I was getting my laptop hooked up to my monitor for the day's work. In the … [Read more...] about Three Little Things to Get the Day Back on Track
How to Use Your GATES to Make Your Project Easier
A few years ago I got an email from a reader — let’s call him Arnie — seeking advice on how to grow his (written) blog. In his email he mentioned that he wasn’t good at writing and didn’t enjoy it. A sentence or two later, he mentioned how much he loved talking and creating videos. Being distant … [Read more...] about How to Use Your GATES to Make Your Project Easier
WFH Conversations with Your Partner: Different Work Hours
Over the years, one of the areas that Charlie and I have had to navigate is what our work hours look like, whether they were the same or different, and what impact that had on us as individuals and on our relationship. Before my natural rhythms, and thus my work schedule, shifted in the … [Read more...] about WFH Conversations with Your Partner: Different Work Hours
3 Questions to Triage What Needs to Be Done
The last few weeks have thrown up in the air a lot of our rhythms, plans, and confidence. But it's not just that those things have been unsettled – it’s also that new stuff has been added on top of what we had before. What I've been reminding folks (who are open to it) is this: while a lot of new … [Read more...] about 3 Questions to Triage What Needs to Be Done
Making WFH with Your Partner Work for You Both
Since Charlie and I both have home offices and already work from home a majority of the time, the changes that many couples are currently facing with both partners being in the home for work are a bit different for us. Over the years (actually decades if you include when we were both in academia … [Read more...] about Making WFH with Your Partner Work for You Both
What Matters Now?
Rather than just jumping in and talking about how we're updating our plans and adjusting to COVID-19, I've been making sure to ask my clients "What matters now?" first. It's not that the goals we set and plans we put in place a few weeks ago are all irrelevant – it's just that now some of them are, … [Read more...] about What Matters Now?
Do It for the Love
A common thread I've heard in my conversations with clients, colleagues, and friends is that they're hesitant and more than a little guilty about wanting to keep at their best work. Doing their best work during a pandemic – and, gasp, enjoying it – feels wrong. Here's the deal: many of us need to … [Read more...] about Do It for the Love