Reading Time: 5 minutesThe Problem: Our Compulsive Checking If you have a moment when you’re not doing anything, what do you do? Is your first instinct to reach for your phone? Many of us are addicted to social media on our phones. Everywhere I go, I see adults staring at their phones and scrolling. One study found that …
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: 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 …
Reading Time: 4 minutesThe Limits of “Time Management” Thinking For years, productivity has been obsessed with time management. In one sense, we must manage our time to ensure that we do the things that are most important to us. Doing anything worthwhile takes time, so some management is necessary. However, this mentality has often led us to see …
Reading Time: 3 minutesA Different Kind of Productivity Book What if your weekly review could be faster, more visual, and more motivating? A simple table I discovered in Anne-Laure Le Cunff’s new book, Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World, changed the way I reflect each week—and I think it might help you too. Although …
Reading Time: 3 minutesYou’ll Never Finish It All—and That’s Okay Our culture prioritizes productivity and life hacks, allowing us to make every possible minute productive. We work to squeeze results out of every minute. However, as Oliver Burkeman points out in his book, 4,000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, we are, in fact, finite human beings. No matter …
Reading Time: 5 minutesA Role I Valued, but at Too High a Cost Last Spring and Summer, I was a volunteer ranger at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site near Badlands National Park in South Dakota. In the Fall, I volunteered to work part-time as an NPS ranger. We were short-staffed, and I wanted to experience life as …
Reading Time: 4 minutesHow We Usually View Procrastination In productivity circles, we typically view procrastination as a negative force that keeps us from doing what we want to do. We try to devise strategies to help us fight against procrastination. Just a year ago, in June 2024, I published a post titled “How to Overcome Procrastination.” While I …
Reading Time: 4 minutesYou Are Not What You Produce Many productivity nerds start the day feeling like they owe a productivity debt to the universe. They feel like they have to prove how much they can get done in the day to prove their worth as human beings. Many of us focus on our task managers, which contain …