Time management books talk a lot about keeping track of your commitments. Commitments are those tasks you have decided you are going to do, no matter what. They range from the trivial (mailing a letter today) to the profound (write a book). They can be personal (lose...
Exercise: Prepared Questions Background When you're dealing with a complex task, the first thing you need to do is get an overview — quickly — so you can make heads or tails of it. Before you get an overview, you have no way to prioritize. Before you get an overview,...
Judge Your Neighbor Background "Judge Your Neighbor" is a process which I have adapted from Byron Katie's book *Loving What Is*. It is a method I use whenever I am emotionally distressed about an issue involving other people. I explained the process in two teleclasses...
Based on some comments I made in a coaching call, a Thinking Labber wrote to me as follows: I'm fascinated by the idea that self-sacrifice is an easily activated context and not a habit. I'd love to learn more about that, but I'm not sure of the...
I often get asked how to think on your feet. For example, suppose you are in a meeting, and your boss suddenly turns to you and asks for your opinion. How do you come up with a quick answer? You can't stop to "think on paper" in that situation. First, I want to point...
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...
Tactic: "The 3-Pass Review" Overview What: This is the basic tactic for addressing conflict and confusion. When: Use this tactic when "thinking on paper" becomes tangled or unproductive. How: Systematically take three passes for your "thinking on paper." First, do...
I found an old article of mine arguing that you should pursue only one initiative at a time. It was a little embarrassing to read because I am still learning this lesson the hard way. My latest conclusion is that you need to distinguish initiatives from other...
There is a productivity tool that I've been using faithfully for 20 years that I've never written up: the 2-Minute Rule, which I got from David Allen's book, Getting Things Done. He explains it in the context of processing a paper inbox: If the next action [on an...
In another article, I mentioned that whenever you give a reason for your conclusion, you should pause to make sure it passes the Laugh Test. Yes, the "Laugh Test." Sometimes your reason will turn out to be a patent rationalization, and you won't be able to repeat it...
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