Reading Time: 4 minutesHave you ever noticed how your mental state affects your productivity? In this blog post, I will define the mental states affecting our productivity and explore how to schedule our work to take advantage of them. I’ll also discuss the need to change our daily schedule sometimes to accommodate mental states. We’re often unrealistic when …
Reading Time: 5 minutesThe best productivity tip I’ve learned in the past few years has been to start each day with a plan for what I intend to get done that day and when I intend to do it. Productivity gurus agree. As a MacSparky Labs member, I recently watched a preview video of MacSparky’s upcoming Productivity Field …
Reading Time: 5 minutesEvery New Year’s Day, millions make resolutions to change their behavior. Almost no one follows through. The Power of a New Year New Year’s Day holds an extraordinary power — it’s seen as a time to make a new beginning. “New Year’s Day has long held a special power over our behavior. We turn the …
Reading Time: 5 minutesI’ve used a morning routine based on my iPad for over two years. In March 2022, I wrote a blog post, A Morning Routine that Works – An App-Based Approach. My iPad has a custom Home Page containing all the widgets, apps, and shortcuts I need to perform my morning routine. Since I wrote that …
Reading Time: 3 minutesWe live in a culture of outrage. The news media and social media intentionally feed this culture. It’s an enemy of intentional living because it’s pure manipulation. It’s the opposite of thoughtful and deliberate reasoning and thinking. It’s the direct result of news media and social media using “click-bait” to grab your attention and manipulate …
Reading Time: 5 minutesI have mixed reactions to the new Apple Vision Pro announced at WWDC earlier this year. I haven’t tried it, so everything I think about it is based on second-hand information. My reactions are based on watching the initial Apple presentation video, reading the reports of those who’ve had the opportunity to try one out, …
Reading Time: 5 minutesAfter our recent move to a different state, tasks appeared on my task manager, Things, that no longer needed to be done. There was no need to clean a birth bath that we no longer owned, and the trash and recycling days were different in South Dakota than in Arizona. This experience got me thinking …
Reading Time: 4 minutesAs I was driving our UHaul truck through Wyoming while moving to Rapid City, SD a couple of weeks ago, I listened to the audiobook of Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear. Early in the book, Clear emphasizes the limitations of goals. He …
Reading Time: 3 minutes“Train yourself to be fully and completely immersed in what you are doing at the moment, and it will become a habit.” Daily Creative: Find Your Inspiration to Spark Creative Energy and Fight Burnout, by Todd Henry. Being able to focus is the super skill that will make you 10x more productive. In today’s fast-paced …
Reading Time: 4 minutesTodd Henry wrote, “You should celebrate wins. In fact, I’m a firm believer in celebrating often.” Daily Creative: Find Your Inspiration to Spark Creative Energy and Fight Burnout. I’ve heard this productivity advice before, but never really thought about it or implemented it. Confession Time — I Don’t Often Celebrate My Wins I’m not good …