Book Recommendation: Getting Things Done
by David Allen
If you feel overloaded by all you have to do, there is hope. "It's possible for a person to have an overwhelming number of things to do and still function productively with a clear head and a positive sense of relaxed control." So says David Allen in the opening line...
Becoming More Productive by Testing the Rule of Six
"The key to being productive is to stick to the six most important things you need to get done that day," says Chet Holmes, author of The Ultimate Sales Machine. Why six? Holmes argues that this makes the list short enough that you can be sure to complete the list. He...
Three Ways to Prepare for a Constructive Conversation
If you've been following my work, you know that I'm interested in making conversations on controversial topics more constructive and less contentious. I think I'm making progress, but, yesterday I had a contentious conversation with someone who I am in basic agreement...
Three Signs You Need to Check Your Premises
Ayn Rand coined the catch phrase: "Check your premises." A premise is a past conclusion that supports your present thinking. Her point was that if you arrive at a contradiction in the present, there is an error somewhere in your past conclusions. You need to find that...
Three Steps to Following Through on Your Priority
Your top priority is not necessarily the most important task on your list, nor is it necessarily the most urgent one. It is the one you decide you should do first--prior to the others. Often, as soon as you identify your top priority by naming the reason it's #1, you...
Want to be Happy? Set Objective Goals
I am often asked what's wrong with setting a goal to "be happy" or "feel good." The problem is that these "goals" are subjective — ultimately circular. Goals need to be objective. To understand that goals need to be objective, first you need to understand what a goal...
Thinking About Affirmations
I'm reading my friend Alan Zimmerman's book, The Payoff Principle, which explains the process he teaches for achieving "what you really, Really, REALLY want." He is inspiring me on many levels, including convincing me to take a second look at some practices that have...
Best Practices make Best Decisions Possible
Often people judge a decision by its results. When they don't like the way the decision turned out, they conclude they must have made a bad decision. But that doesn't follow. When you make a decision, you make it in a very specific context. You choose between...
Burnout
Burnout is a common problem. When you "burn out," you lose the motivation to do productive work that you have done in the past — and used to enjoy doing. There are three common sources of motivation: a personally meaningful (selfish) purpose, an inspiring person, or...
Don’t mistake your questions for your choices
Perhaps the biggest mistake you can make in decision-making is to confuse your questions about the future with your choices. For example, I was asked, suppose you love music, and like medicine, but you are concerned about pursuing a career in music because it is so...
