It’s been an active year of productivity explorations for me. Rather than present conclusions – partially because I haven’t gotten to a point of clear conclusions – I thought I’d share some […]
Habits
The Last 15%
The difference between good performance and excellent performance comes down to the last 15% of the activity. It doesn’t matter what domain of our lives we’re considering – the rule is still there. It’s […]
7 Ways to Write Better Action Items
Do the items on your action lists tell you what actually needs to be done? A routine observation from facilitating workshops and coaching people on issues related to productivity and strategy execution […]
50+ Better Questions to Ask Than How to Be More Productive
“How can I be more productive?” It’s a question that many of us ask ourselves without realizing that the question, as stated, is impossible to answer. Just as I prefer achievable goals, […]
Leave the Canoe Behind
A young traveler approached a river while on her journey. From all appearances, it was too deep to ford and too long to get around. After doing a bit of scouting around, […]
What Is Your Daily Ride Helping You Practice?
I ride the bus to our downtown office most days. When I originally moved our headquarters downtown, I understood that it would take me a while to get used to riding the […]
A Few Words On No Goals
A few weeks back, I was writing a post in reply to Leo’s discussion of No Goals. I found myself referencing many versions of the Tao Te Ching to show missing pieces […]
Choosing Engaged and Meaningful over Comfort
Nearly two years ago, Catherine Caine sent me this topic request: While going through the idea garden this morning, I came across it again. Given some of the things I’ve been thinking […]
The Power Of Pause
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Todd Henry of Accidental Creative. Several years ago my media consumption habits were turned upside down when a friend introduced me to the wonders […]
Be Prepared to Make Bad Decisions
I’ve been thinking a lot about planning, decision-making, and execution lately. Okay, I always think a lot about those topics, but I’ve been thinking about them even more than usual. You’ve no […]
Adding to the Heap Won’t Help You Work Through It
If you’ve already got too much to do, adding more to the heap won’t help you work through the heap. This is obvious at a conceptual level. Yet, in our daily practices, […]
A Different Past Would’ve Changed You — So What?
It’s natural to wonder about how much better your life might’ve been had you been born into different circumstances. A recent conversation with Tim Berry made me think about this. Tim is one of those […]
Watch This Before Our Next Meeting
[If you’re reading this via email or RSS, you may need to click through to watch this video.] We’ve all sat through a bad meeting. If we’re honest, we’ve all probably led […]
Decisions, Decisions… Are You Planning or Stalling?
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Al Pittampalli of The Modern Meeting Standard. What do you do when faced with an important decision? Whether it’s deciding to launch a new […]
How Is Your Perfectionism Feeding You?
Are you grappling with perfectionism? Rather than addressing the symptoms of perfectionism, let’s talk about one of its roots. There are others, but I’ll focus on one today. Take a second to […]
Reframing That Nasty Four-Letter F-Word
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Michael Van Osch of thinktankmen.com. Of course the nasty four-letter F-word I’m referring to is FAIL. The power we’ve given this little word is […]
Build From the Red Line, Not The Deadline
Imagine that during a normal week, you set goals and deadlines that assume you’ll be able to do, say, 10 units of creative work. And that, during a normal week, you actually […]
Get More Done By Limiting White Space
An aside from Dan Ariely’s latest piece in Wired got me thinking. Here’s a quick excerpt: Think how differently we’d interact with our calendars if the default was for time slots not […]