Reading Time: 5 minutesDo You Ever Wonder If What You Do Really Matters? A friend recently told me she doubted whether anything she did really mattered. I understood exactly how she felt. I write two blogs a week with the intention of helping others through my writing. But in most cases, I don’t know whether I’m helping anybody …
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe Balance Myth We’ve been sold a lie. From childhood, we were told to “find balance” in life—to give equal attention to every role of life: work, relationships, health, and personal growth. Then, self-help and business writers raised the bar. Not only should we balance it all, they said—we should excel in every area, all …
Reading Time: < 1 minuteAbout once a month, I refresh my website’s “Updates” page. It’s where I write about what I’ve been reading the past month, and other events in my life that readers might be interested in. This last month, I read four books, all on vastly different topics, and also went on a five-day trip to the …
Reading Time: 3 minutesLet’s Be Honest—We All Avoid Thinking About Death We all know it’s coming—our own death—but few of us ever stop to think about it. We change the subject, distract ourselves, or pretend it’s far away. Recently, my wife and I watched an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where Commander Riker faced his own …
Reading Time: 5 minutesWe’re Collectors of Ideas—But Few of Us Revisit Them We’ve become digital hoarders of ideas. We highlight, clip, and save everything—but rarely revisit what we’ve collected. Productivity writers like Austin Kleon encourage it: “Your job is to collect good ideas. The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced …
Reading Time: 4 minutesHave you ever caught yourself living more in the future than in the present? Most of us do. We tell ourselves, “When X happens, then I’ll be happy.” I’m guilty of it too. My wife and I have a trip planned soon—a few days in a cabin in the Rocky Mountains. I keep daydreaming about …
Reading Time: 3 minutesWe’ve all been there. You have a project that needs to be completed by the end of the day. You block off an hour for a “quick” project. An hour later, you’ve barely started—and the rest of your day is wrecked. You wish you could do a better job of estimating how long projects will …
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe Trap of Toxic Productivity Have you ever felt uneasy sitting on the couch doing nothing? You’re not alone. Many of us have absorbed the idea that every moment must be productive. A healthy focus on productivity can help us prioritize what matters most in our lives. However, an unhealthy or excessive focus on productivity …