A while ago, I read an interesting book called The Magic Lamp: Goal Setting for People Who Hate Goals by Keith Ellis. Much of his approach is compatible with mine. Here is a clever tactic of his for using your skill at procrastination as a power for good. The problem...
Do you make a list of six tasks each day, rank them by priority, and then work through them, in order? Alan Zimmerman, author of The Payoff Principle, reminded me of this classic advice. He calls the list your "6-Pack." Many successful people say that this practice —...
A Thinking Labber wrote: "Contrary to your advice to have one emotionally-challenging initiative, I have 4-5 major challenging initiatives at work and 3-4 in my personal life, none of which I feel I can realistically defer without significant consequences." This is an...
A Launcher recently told me that her initiative was going well and she'd added another project. Then she asked, "What's your short advice for how to be more productive, because I don't have time for the long version." In other words, she was now at least marginally...
When you have limited time to get work done, you need to focus your effort and keep it on track. A 3-point plan helps you do that. I mean something specific by a 3-point plan. It is not just a list of three tasks. It is a prioritized, integrated list that captures...
Many people get stuck prioritizing, because to say "yes" to one thing is to say "no" to another. That "no" feels like giving up something that's important. Faced with the need to prioritize, your subconscious exclaims: "But I want them all." Of course you do. Let's...
A while back, I realized I needed something to help reinforce my intentions when I didn't seem to be following through on them. For example, I intended to work on a big project, but I found myself doing some little tasks, or taking a longer break than I really wanted...
At times you will face conflicts between short- and long-term priorities, such as: "I want to __[insert major goal here]____, but right now I need a job." "I want to start ___[insert new long-term project here]____, but right now I'm just keeping up with day-to-day...
A deadline is the date a task needs to be finished. It is different from an estimated completion date in that there are real negative consequences for missing the target. For example, the deadline for filing taxes in the US was May 17 this year. The penalties are...
I didn't set out to teach time management, but I sure talk about it a lot in my programs. That's because each aspect of a time-management system takes firsthand thinking to make it work. Consider the first basic problem in time management: keeping track of what you...
Do you have trouble saying "no" to requests from others? Do you add new projects faster than you can complete them? Do you love to go above and beyond on your assignments? If so, you're like me. You tend to overcommit. The standard advice we are given is, “Just say...
In a recent coaching call, one of the participants in Launch 2021 shared that he was overscheduled. He had added in an "artist's date," three hours of drawing work, to an already busy schedule. He was enjoying the drawing time, but now it seemed that every minute of...
I found an old article of mine arguing that you should pursue only one initiative at a time. It was a little embarassing to read, because I am still learning this lesson the hard way. My latest conclusion is that you need to distinguish initiatives from other...
Do you take 15 minutes to plan each and every day? I strongly recommend you do so. 15 minutes is enough time to let you review your calendar and consider your priorities. 15 minutes is enough time to get an overview so that you know what matters most today. 15 minutes...
One of my top life lessons learned is: if you want to create your dream life, you must stay ruthlessly committed to identifying and pursuing your top priority at each choice-point during the day. I call this "The Priorities Mindset." It took me years to truly learn...
I'd like to share an invaluable technique that improves both your productivity and your motivation: Deliberately plan to reach a finishing point in your work every half hour. A finishing point is different from a stopping point. For example, if you're juggling, and...
I often talk about the negative impact of mental pressure. But I am occasionally asked whether some pressure isn't good. For example, a member of the Thinking Lab observed, "Just the right amount of pressure is desirable and beneficial.... I believe in values pressure...
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...
While doing a competitive analysis to build my business, I checked out the Self-Coaching Scholars program created by Brooke Castillo. It looked interesting, so I joined and have been educating myself in her methods. One of the new tools I’ve adopted is the use of the...
Some years ago I read an interesting book titled The Origin of Everyday Moods: Managing Energy, Tension, and Stress, by Robert Thayer. The bottom line from the book is you need to distinguish (and manage) four identifiable productivity states: Relaxed & Energized...
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