Archive for the ‘Time Management’ Category

Shattering Time Management Myth #12: Multitasking Isn’t a Talent, It’s a Handicap—How to Beat the Disease Once and for All…

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

chainsaw_juggling5Hey, 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…)

Time Management Secret #9: Does What You’re Doing Even Matter?—3 Questions to Ask Yourself…

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

 

mouse-wheel-on-a-wheelHave 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…)

Mental Outsourcing: How to Write a Masterpiece—Piece by Piece…

Sunday, May 17th, 2009

 

moleskineMy 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…)

How to Get an Extra 30 Hours a Year—to Work, Read, Play, Create, or Whatever…

Sunday, March 8th, 2009

 

sinking-clock1The 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…)