So I’ve been AWOL from my blog since the end of September.

Why?

Well, I could probably come up with a lot reasons (excuses) why I haven’t posted anything in so long, but there’s really just one.  It’s among the 3 below—which do you think it was? 

I’ve been:

1—Hitch hiking cross-continent

2—In and out of rehab (more…)

Question:  How many times would the average person throw a rock in the air and expect it to fly? 

Answer:  Once a year.

Every January 1st the media can’t stop talking about New Year’s Resolutions.

So why don’t they have a slew of stories every December on the life transformations people have experienced over the year simply by making themselves a promise in January?

They don’t talk about the results, of course, because there aren’t any.

So here’s the 3 hard truths about NYRs that no one else will tell you:

1 - The fail rate on NYRs is admittedly immeasurable—and assuredly (more…)

Would it be a surprise if I told you I’m a Terminal Skeptic?

Well maybe it’ll be no surprise, then, when I say this to you:  When a friend told me a few weeks ago that October this year contained 5 full weekends, I was fascinated. 

When he said it wouldn’t happen again for 823 years, I told him I didn’t believe that. 

“Where did you hear that,” I asked him.

“Jef, it’s all over the internet,” he said without hesitation.

And it is all over the internet.  And everyone who’s (more…)

Hey, can you remember a time when you heard somebody say, “I’m multitasking!” and they sounded excited about it, like they’d just mastered the unicycle? 

If you can’t think of anybody right off, it may have been you.

Somewhere along the way, multitasking got a good name.  It’s a Cube Farm Myth of epic proportion, and proof that any falsehood repeatedly heard over time will be regarded as truthful. 

The real deal on this one:  Contrary to common logic, multitasking isn’t a talent and it’s nothing to be proud of.

We’ve all tried it. 

It doesn’t work.

Heck, it’s not even fun.

The cruel part is, experience might seem to support the myth that multitasking equates to productivity:  Because we’re engaged in several things at once, we have the temporary (more…)

Have you ever asked someone if they’re busy and gotten this answer back:  “I’m covered up!”

I’ve heard this… and I’ve said it.  Have you?

If you’re like me, you’ve gotten to the end of a day and thought, “Where did the time go?”  What’s it like to look back over the last 8, 10, or even 12 hours and have to admit that despite hustling furiously all day:

1-I didn’t get much done (not good)… and…

2-there’s a lot of stuff left that I didn’t get to… (worse yet!)

If you’re tired of pulling your hair out, I’ve got some tips that will help, and here’s the first (more…)

My wife and I had a rare lunch outing this week.  How did it happen?  Well, I realized I’d gotten everything there was to get from the seminar I was sitting in on, so I skipped out at 11:33 sharp—just in time to drive 20 minutes across the city and surprise Missy as she left the dentist office—which was conveniently located on the same block as one of my Top 5 sushi restaurants.

Okay, so why did I need to offer you “how” it happened in the second sentence?  Well, with four kids, private lunches don’t come easy.  Which is why I told you in the first sentence it was “rare”.  

After lunch we went to our favorite coffee shop and split a latte.  Am I cheap?  No, I just didn’t (more…)

The time change (either way) always sneaks up on me.  About mid-morning, twice a year, I hear myself say to my wife in a startled voice, “It was last night?”

Why would the readout on a clock instantly make me tired?  I felt rested this morning until I realized I wasn’t looking at the ‘real’ time. 

The power of that device.     

The power we give it.

And it’s all perception, really.

But perception is reality, right?  So since we’re all perceiving that we’ve “lost an hour” of our (more…)