"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." The importance of taking small steps is well known. It's the most likely advice you'll get if you're bogging down on something. "Try taking a small step." And yet, I have often found this advice unhelpful. I'm...
I often recommend that when you are confused in your thinking on some issue, you need to take multiple passes, first to gather information, then to test your thinking. The simplest test is to ask about each sentence, "is that literally true?" By asking this question,...
When you have a big question to think about, don't wait until you have 2 or 3 hours free to tackle it. There just aren't enough big blocks of time available to make that a practical strategy. Instead, learn how to Velcro together smaller blocks of time--say 25...
There are three kinds of actions that mark a person as having an active mind. 1. You look beyond the obvious options and the obvious explanations to make sure you've got the full picture. 2. You do the introspective work to make your own values explicit, especially...
The ideal relationship is open, honest, and equal. If you find that someone has lied to you or evaded, it puts the whole relationship in question. But I've noticed that some people jump to the conclusion that another person is dishonest without establishing it...
A member of the Thinking Lab came to a consult the other day to discuss a situation from work that was bothering him. I blithely suggested he needed introspective work — meaning he needed to identify the deep rational values at stake underlying his feelings. I suspect...
There are many ways to categorize your to-do list to help you decide your priorities. David Allen recommends you categorize by type of activity (calls, online work, offline computer work, errands, etc.). Then, when you are looking for the next thing to do, you can...
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...
Multiply the Power of Thought What determines your productivity on a day-to-day basis? The effectiveness of your thinking. The more effective your thinking: The easier it is to get your mind in gear to solve the problem at hand The better you can keep your head when...
Last week I gave a terrific class on how to troubleshoot "Rationally Connected Conversations." I mentioned three mistakes to watch out for. Then yesterday in a conversation I made all three mistakes. Actually, I did catch mistake #1 at a certain point and remedy it....
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