Reading Time: 5 minutesI’ve been doing quarterly reviews as a part of David Sparks’ Productivity Field Guide role-based system since January 2021, but I’ve never had a review as thorough and enjoyable as the one I did with Claude Cowork last month. Cowork strips the drudgery out of the quarterly review: it handles the calendar scanning, reading three …
Reading Time: 5 minutesWhat Theological School Taught Me About Groupthink When I studied theology in graduate school, I observed that religious groups, including my own, typically required members to adhere to a particular theology or system of beliefs. It wasn’t acceptable to deviate from the set system. Those who did were attacked and ostracized. Those who asked piercing …
Reading Time: 4 minutesWhen Saying Yes Means Saying No A little over a year ago, I had to say no to something I really wanted to do because I’d already said yes to other things. A creator friend offered me the opportunity to work with him by helping with backstage administrative support. I had to say no because …
Reading Time: 4 minutesYour Brain Is Set to Wander — and That’s Not a Problem A landmark Harvard study found that people’s minds wander 46.9% of the time — nearly half — regardless of what they are doing. Most people secretly think something is wrong with them when their mind wanders. You’re not broken, you’re human. As Steve …
Reading Time: 5 minutesWhen we think of values, we typically think of them as nouns. For example, we talk about integrity, honesty, or family as values. But values as nouns often don’t lead to actions or tell you what you need to do. For that to happen, we need to turn values into verbs. I recently read a …
Reading Time: 5 minutesI’ve been doing a morning routine for at least the past four years. I’ve written several blog articles over those years (For the last post, see Create the Day You Want: The Power of a Proactive Morning Routine) about my practice. My recent work with Claude Cowork has led to three changes: how I plan, …
Reading Time: 4 minutesI read another article recently telling me to stop buying things and start buying experiences. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen that advice. It’s been repeated in newspaper articles, magazine articles, and by bloggers and podcasters. It’s more than just advice at this point — it’s a cultural mantra. As a result …
Reading Time: 3 minutesMost of us go through the day forming intentions and making choices by default rather than through deliberate decision-making. Instead, our choices are made through habits, social contagion, and unexamined assumptions. In his recent book, Intentional, productivity expert Chris Bailey reveals that researchers have found that most of our actions run on neural autopilot. This …
Reading Time: 2 minutesTech nerds (like me) are notorious for constantly switching productivity apps. We invest a lot of time into setting up a new app, transferring data, and learning how to use it. A few months later, just when we’re getting comfortable with it, a new app comes along, and we start the process all over again. …
Reading Time: 2 minutesFor the past 10 months, I have been writing, editing, and publishing two blog posts each week, each on very different topics. I’ve published an Original Mac Guy post on Tuesdays and a Retirement Reinvented post on Saturdays. Starting this week, I’m going to publish one standard post each Tuesday morning. I’ll be alternating between …