How much time do you spend each week working through the important, deep, and future-building work? How much time could have been spent on the significant, strategic change work that often gets […]
Time Management
What to Do When Work Intensity Is the Problem
A client recently wanted to problem-solve for working four days a week, but when she started explaining the problem, it wasn’t about the load of her days or how many days a […]
Using Focus Blocks To Boost Your Team’s Capacity
If you’ve been overwhelmed by trying to figure out how much capacity your team has, and whether they’re focused on what matters most, here’s my take: looking at project lists or time […]
Strategies For Thriving In A Remote Workplace With ADD & ADHD
Learning earlier this year that I had Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) changed a lot for me. I finally realized that I was not a “bad worker” or didn’t have a “work ethic”. […]
Block Those Notifications or How to Better Protect Your Attention Span
Do you ever get started on a project only to be interrupted five minutes later by a notification? That notification leads down a social media spiral, from which you emerge only several […]
Do You Have Trouble Moving Projects Forward?
While it may seem like working on several projects in parallel is a good way to keep things going, we’re often better off to move fewer projects further than juggling more for […]
Get Into the Habit of Habit Streaks
We’re told over and over about the importance of creating healthy habits — you don’t need us to remind you yet again. You know intuitively, deep down, what you need to do […]
Work From Home Workers Need Nudges To Go Home
When you’re working on-site or in the office, there are lots of cues and norms about when it’s time to go home. Without those cues and norms, WFH workers are struggling to […]
How to Mindfully Avoid Morning Distractions
For more tips and strategies to help you be your productive best, pick up a copy of Charlie’s book Start Finishing, winner of the 2020 Productivity Book of the Year. Available on […]
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, […]
What If What You Want Is Already Here?
Most of us run through life at a fast pace. We are focused on the goal and lose sight of what is with us right now. We’re focused on: Getting dinner finished […]
What Are You Listening To?
Editor’s Note: Angela wrote a companion post, Care in What You Consume, about her experiences in 2004 during Charlie’s deployment, and in 2020 with COVID-19. This post provides Charlie’s perspective of the […]
Care in What You Consume
Editor’s Note: Charlie wrote a companion post, What Are You Listening To?, about his experiences in 2004 during his Iraq deployment, and in 2020 with COVID-19. This post provides Angela’s perspective of […]
Checking OUT from Work and IN with Those You Love
That email will be there tomorrow. That phone call can happen next week. The Slack message that just came through at the end of your workday will wait. The project you are […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]