Productivity Tip
Celebrate yourself.
Don’t forget to celebrate, people. This year I have a novel publishing in November in the United States, and I have a different novel publishing in the UK and internationally in a couple months. This two book oddity was the result of a change by my US publisher, St. Martin’s Press. The Other Mother was…
Read MoreThe fabled land of Inbox Zero
Behold! If you’re using Gmail and also have the Gmail app on your phone, this is what you see when your inbox is empty of email. Yes, I’m bragging. In truth, I’m almost always on the verge of Inbox Zero, that fabled land where no email awaits your attention. And lest you think I’m simply…
Read MoreI don’t have time to save time
The question I get asked most often is “How do you get so much done?” I’m working on a proposal for a book that answers that very question in great detail. But until the book is written and published, I’m always willing to offer advice on becoming more productive and more efficient, and people are…
Read MoreI have a new job. And two simple strategies that helped me land it.
Despite Elysha’s best attempts, I have a new job. As of Friday, I’m now a Notary Public for the State of Connecticut. Admittedly there won’t be much work in this new role. Need a document notarized? I’m your man. But that doesn’t exactly happen all that often. I became interested in becoming a notary public…
Read MoreHelp! Some kind of voodoo priest is trying to change my life!
I met a woman in Michigan who told me that she performed improv with Second City in Chicago a few years ago. “Why dd you stop?” I asked. She explained that she moved north to Michigan for work, and there is no real improv scene in her area. She still loved performing improv when she…
Read More“How do you get so much done?”
The question most frequently asked of me during interviews and at the end of book talks, lectures, and the like is some variation of “How do you get so much done?” It’s sort of an impossible question to answer, because the actual answer could fill the pages of a book. At some point it might. …
Read MoreChange. Now.
I saw this fortune the other day and thought, “Someone gets it.” I believe in change. I am a man who has held the same teaching job for two decades, in the same school and in the same classroom for almost the entire time. I’ve watched so many of my friends come and go over…
Read MoreWalk fast. Now science is standing behind me.
Four years ago, I wrote a post on productivity that suggested that you walk faster in order to save time. I wrote (in part): I know it sounds simple and stupid, but if you want to be more productive, walk fast. I am often teased by colleagues because I walk down the halls at breakneck…
Read MorePeople don’t like you because you complain all the time.
People don’t like people who complain all the time. I explained this to my students after hiking The Freedom Trail in Boston with them. “I was so proud of you,” I said. “In past years, some students complained a lot. Complained about being tired. Complained about walking. One kid once told me he had a…
Read MoreBe a satisficer.
I bought some new golf shoes last summer. I was walking through Golf Warehouse with my friend, Plato, when I came upon the shoe department. Sitting on the very front of the department was a pair of waterproof golf shoes. “I’ll take these,” I said. “That’s it?” Plato asked incredulously. “You’re not going to look…
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