Time poverty – the feeling of not having enough time – is at an all-time high. And this nagging feeling has a profound effect on happiness and productivity. Anxiety and depression go up. Physical health goes down due. Relationships suffer. But research shows that most of us have more discretionary time than ever before. If …
Author: John Stevenson
How to build slack into your day for more flexibility and higher productivity
Jam-packed days are a big problem. No matter how good you are at lists, or how well you stick to your schedule, you can never anticipate the unexpected calls, meetings, and problems that pop up each day. Which is why you need some slack in your day. It sounds counter-intuitive but aiming to do less …
Positivity and how to create it and keep it
Negativity cuts off the flow of trust and positive energy in our lives. It constricts our thinking. It saps enthusiasm. And this can have a paralyzing effect. We can never eliminate negativity, stress, and fear. But the way we can successfully overcome them is by making our positivity bigger than our negativity. The good news is …
The essential questions we must constantly ask ourselves and each other
“Be a good listener,” Dale Carnegie advised in How to Win Friends and Influence People. “Ask questions that promote conversations. Ask questions the other person will enjoy answering. Ask questions so you can listen and learn.” Whether you’re trying to get to know somebody, or trying to solve a problem, the art of asking good questions …
Arguments: how to avoid them and move on
In his 1936 work How to Win Friends and Influence People, now one of the bestselling books of all time, Dale Carnegie wrote: “I have come to the conclusion that there is only one way under high heaven to get the best of an argument — and that is to avoid it. Avoid it as you …
Beware a culture of nice
Cultivating a “nice” culture can be a problem. While the reasons for pursuing a nice culture are genuine – civility, safety and inclusion – they often result in a lack of honest communication, intellectual bravery, and accountability. And these types of organizational dysfunctions can cause your best people to leave, slow down decision-making, and worst …
How to manage your energy
The key to success at work and in life is not so much about managing time, but rather, managing energy. It isn’t just starting strong, it’s staying strong. To preserve energy and use it wisely – just as with any other valuable resource – you need a good amount of self-regulation and strategy to keep …
Surefire tips for becoming a better writer
There is nothing more important than great writing in business. Without great writing you have no hope of capturing attention, explaining problems, or persuading others to act, no matter how good your idea, product, or service may be. While many consider good writing to be an art, there is much we can learn from neuroscience …
How to hire the best players in the marketplace
The competition for talent has gotten fierce, seemingly overnight. We’ve gone from record job losses and unemployment over the last year to nearly full employment, with simply not enough good people to go around. Now that it’s become an “employee’s market” it’s more important than ever to hire carefully. It may be harder these days, …
Commitments: how to make them and keep them
My first boss gave me some simple career advice that to this day I still consider to be some of the most valuable I’ve ever received. Here it is: Do what you say you’re going to do. His reasoning was this: because so few people actually do follow through on their commitments, you can stand …