-
Mother’s Day Gratitude
This Sunday is Mother’s Day. This provides an excellent opportunity for us to practice gratitude and celebrate the mothers that have touched our lives. My Mother My mother and I enjoy a close relationship. We talk every week on the phone, often for an hour or more during my long run. I treasure these conversations,…
-
Unplug Yourself
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” – Anne Lamott In an earlier post, I talked about the importance of mindfulness and starting by simply focusing on your breath for 60 seconds. Today I’d like to revisit this area as it is so central to my own…
-
The Best Technology Available
I am a runner. I began running in 2008 with the simple goal of improving my cardiovascular health, and I unexpectedly fell in love with it. 15 years, 15,693 miles and 12 marathons later I am comfortable declaring myself a runner. Any serious marathoner will tell you the ultimate goal is to run Boston. You…
-
Finding Focus
The final stop on the productivity train (for now) is on eliminating distractions and finding focus. Before we dig in, if you’ve worked with me in the past, you’re probably wondering why I haven’t talked about email management. I’m incredibly passionate about getting email under control. I’ve taught email management to hundreds of people over the years…
-
Put On Your White Belt
“In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities. In the expert’s mind, there are few” – Shunryu Suzuki Today I am brimming with anticipation. You know how it feels the day before a big event – whether it’s your wedding, a big presentation, a major competition… Excitement. Enthusiasm. Maybe some nerves. Paradoxically, my excitement precedes…
-
Meeting Maximization
I congratulate everyone who has hopped aboard the productivity train with my recent blog posts. Last week we remodeled our calendars. I’m sure you’re left with more meetings than you’d like. So, this week I offer some perspectives on how to make the most of the meetings that remain. I’ll skip many of the obvious recommendations you’ve seen…
-
Calendar Construction
Based on all the positive feedback, I’m going to continue with the productivity theme this week. Once you’ve solidified a daily planning ritual and a comprehensive weekly review, the next place many of my clients turn to is their calendar itself. Try this out. Take a moment and go look at your calendar for the week. Gaze at…
-
The Week Ahead
Building on last week’s post on a Daily Planning Ritual, let’s continue this week with the next piece of the Productivity Mastery puzzle – the Weekly Planning Ritual (and I promise next week’s post won’t be a monthly or quarterly ritual – by that point we are into goal planning). The strength of the daily planning ritual is it becomes…
-
What’s Your Plan for Today?
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. – Aristotle Over the years, one of my favorite areas for coaching has been improving personal productivity. I’ve taught productivity classes to hundreds of people. Every time someone tells me they are still using what I taught them years ago I…
-
Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day
I have a request. If you’ve set any goals or new year’s resolutions, my request is that you take time within the next seven days to review those goals and identify one goal which you can break down into a series of small, incremental, achievable steps. I make this request because I’ve seen far too…
