Are You Wasting Too Much Time On Email?
“People forget how fast you did a job — but they remember how well you did it.” – Howard W. Newton E-mail has made a big difference in the way we communicate. It’s made written correspondence easier and faster — and that’s the American dream! I remember the old days and…
READ MOREThe Secret to Success: Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time
Time flies when you’re having fun. It’s true, isn’t it? When you’re out and about enjoying yourself, then it appears that time has somehow gone faster. Of course, it’s impossible for time to pass more quickly. Time is static unless you have a time machine. The same happens at work.…
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How to Control Your Own Schedule
Sometimes people use their job as their blanket excuse for not being in control of their schedule. “Oh… I can’t because I have a job,” is the main reason people give for not being able to do 30-day trials, experience extended travel, and do immersive deep dives. However, during periods without a job,…
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Two Tips for Planning Any Major Project
In Do the Work! Steven Pressfield shares two tips for outlining big projects that I think are worth their weight in gold. The first tip Pressfield shares is his yellow, legal-size foolscap method for outlining. Pressfield writes: Some years ago I had lunch at Joe Allen’s in Manhattan with my…
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Using the 5/25 Rule to Learn to Say ‘No’
When I was 12 I was obsessed with a book on my parents’ shelf. “Don’t Say Yes When You Want to Say No”. A pop psychology book from the 70’s all about sex. I would pretend to be sick. Stay home from school. Read the book over and over again,…
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I Have No Confidence… So This Is What I Do
I am nervous all the time. Going to a party, I always try to back out at last minute. Even a party I threw last year, I tried to not go and three people had to call me and convince me to come. Business deal – I am scared right…
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How to Make Yourself Work When You Don’t Want To
Procrastination affects everyone. It sneaks up on most people when they’re tired or bored, but for some, procrastination can be a full-fledged addiction. They avoid all day the work that is right in front of them, only to go home and toil late into the night, frantically trying to finish…
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What Productivity Systems Won’t Solve
If you’re like me, you’re always looking for the perfect productivity system. Unfortunately, it doesn’t exist. The problem isn’t with the productivity system — the problem is that none of them can solve a few really important (and related) problems: Procrastination Fear of uncertainty Fear of discomfort For example, at the top…
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American (Not-So) Psycho Morning Routines
“There’s an idea of Patrick Bateman…” If you’ve read Bret Easton Ellis’ book American Psycho or seen the movie, then you probably remember the intro scene where Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) talks you through his detailed morning routine. If you haven’t seen it, here’s a 2-minute clip (warning: explicit). I was recently reminded of…
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Don’t Use This Email-Productivity Hack
If you want less email, send less email. That was one of the productivity hacks ETR Editor Craig Ballantyne shared during his coaching call Wednesday night. That’s great advice and I recommend you follow it. Another email hack I really like is, limit your emails to no more than five…
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7 New Strategies to Wake Up Early
Before we get to the 7 strategies, you need to answer one question…Why do YOU want to wake up early? If your answer is, ‘I want to be successful and that’s what most successful people do, they wake up early,’ I’ll tell you right now, you’re going to fail. Has…
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“Just Tell Me What to Do” — Compressing Knowledge Into Directives
Wanting to be successful, I’ve always read every book I thought could help. Even if a book had just one useful insight, it was worth the $20 and my time spent reading and thinking. A few years ago, I realized I was forgetting the lessons I’d learned from past books.…
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