All employees want great managers, yet not everyone is fortunate enough to enjoy that luxury. But what really makes an awesome manager? Some people say that an inclusive and positive can-do management style is best to promote leadership and productivity. Others argue it’s more effective for a manager to use fear tactics to get resultsRead… Read more »
I know some people despise New Years Resolutions, but I’m a huge fan of setting yourself up for the year ahead. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve only had middling success with my resolutions in the past, but over time I’ve noticed a pattern in the ones that have succeeded. It goes somethingRead… Read more »
Most of us approach our work days incredibly inefficiently, then wonder why we’ve accomplished so little by the end of it. Along with constant interruptions, inefficient scheduling may be a big culprit. The fact is that all time is not created equal. You may set aside two hours to work on a specific project, butRead… Read more »
This last weekend, I took a fiction-writing class with a local author, Ken Scholes. As we went around the room to introduce ourselves, a common theme emerged. Most of us thought we should be writing more words, we should be submitting more short fiction, we should be taking more classes, we should be reading moreRead… Read more »
Slow days happen for a couple of reasons. It could be that our workload is just lighter that day – say we’re waiting for necessary information to start on a project, or it’s simply the off season in your field. Or, maybe there are legitimate projects to be done, but because of burnout or generalRead… Read more »
You’ve been there. It’s a Monday morning and you’re ready for the work week — or as ready as you can be after the relaxation of the weekend. You know your most important projects that need to get done at the office, and you know as soon as you can just grab a cup ofRead… Read more »
Work dreams are the worst. You already spent all day at the office, stayed late, spent the evening responding to emails, and now you can’t even drift off to the Land of Nod without taking paperwork and unfinished to-do lists with you. You barely have a weekend anymore, ever since budget cuts forced you toRead… Read more »
The way to make things happen is to let them go. I learned this from hard experience. For the last three or four years I spent my time trying to build a business. It didn’t go very well. It turns out I’m best working alone, within organisations, helping them to get things done. My businessRead… Read more »
Earlier this month the New York Times website ran an article titled Hit the Reset Button in Your Brain, by Daniel J. Levitin of McGill University. Levitin paints the picture of a balanced brain, with one neural network for focus and one for daydreaming. The two parts are designed to complement each other, with periodsRead… Read more »
Many of us keep our days chock full from sunup to sundown, but in the end we still feel swamped by our to do lists. It’s such a common feeling in our society that productivity gurus have made millions selling us books, apps, and systems designed to boost our work output. The problem with evenRead… Read more »