It's easy to let ourselves become busy people. In a flurry of activity, we can boast about how productive we've been. But efficiency doesn't matter if we're not working on the things that are truly …
Atomic Essays
Own your course by being proactive
The difference between people who are regularly proactive and those who are not is literally the difference between having a fulfilling career and working for the weekend. We're not talking about a …
Reduce interruptions by batching issues
Ineffective leaders waste a lot of time and energy responding to one-off issues throughout the day. Small, frequent interactions distract us from doing deep, meaningful work. They interrupt our …
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Use filters to manage email newsletters
I love a good email newsletter. Some of my personal favorites include those published by Austin Kleon, Seth Godin, Cedric Chin, Dave Pell, and Hiten Shaw. I subscribe to dozens of email newsletters …
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How to make progress on side projects
We all have hobbies, interests, and side projects that we work on in our free time. I enjoy reading and writing on my blog. My cousin is training for the Boston Marathon. And a friend of mine in …
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Failure to lead
This past Saturday, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley made history by piloting the first commercial manned space flight to the ISS. The private-public effort led by SpaceX marked the first time since 2011 …
Writing is thinking on paper
Writing forces you to tame the jumble of thoughts that exist in the vagaries of your subconscious and organize them into a meaningful sequence. It requires critical thinking that exercises parts of …
1% better every day
Small, incremental improvements add up over time. Getting 1% better at something may not be notable, or even noticeable, in the moment. But when compounded over the course of a year, 1% can be the …
Consolidate thy time
"Know thy time" is one of the foundational habits for the effective executive. Everything we do requires an investment of our time. So until we learn how to manage our own time well, one could argue …
Manage thy time
Effective use of your most valuable resource begins with an honest log of how it’s spent. In last week’s post I challenged you to record your time over a three to four week period. Once you …