Blog
How Much Does Your Time Cost?
So today I spent entirely too long obsessing over a cool time tracking tool to tell you how much your time really costs. It's called Spend Your Days, and it manages to magically combine my obsessions with productivity, time management, and easy math that even I can...
Why You Need to Be Bored
This week, I had a medical thing. Although it wasn't terribly interesting, at the end of the day it did mean that I spent the better part of a week laid up in bed. "Bed" meant a few different things, including: lying in my own bed clacking away at the computer/taking...
How to Manage Your Email
If you've ever read a morning routine or two, you've seen the shame associated with admitting to reading email first thing in the morning. Many of us do it, and many of us feel we shouldn’t. Although I’m not into the shame game, no matter how you sugarcoat it,...
How to Take Advantage of an Energy Burst
Usually, I’m pretty clear on when I’m going to work, and when I’m going to not work. In a given week, if I’m not traveling I’ll plan out more or less the days and times that I can be found doing different types of work: writing at one of my local cafes (morning or...
Doing Hard Things Helps Your Career — But Not in the Way You Think It Does {Guest Post}
We all have things we do well that were hard won. These skills carry a price tag of sweat, and possibly tears, and they speak volumes about prospective hires. These are the skills you point to when someone asks, “What is the hardest thing you’ve ever done?” Nearly a...
Who You Really Want to Be
I recently told you about my baby daughter’s new activity, which we descriptively call the Yell and Run. Aside from getting me out of breath inappropriately in public places, it has been teaching me about where I need to be more me in my life as of late. The reality...
The Yell and Run
Baby Lucia is getting big. And, in one of her "I'm a big girl now” activities, she is all about the running. But it's not just any old running. It's running while yelling. We call it the Yell and Run and it's about as complex as it sounds, and about as complex as an...
The Invisible Writer
This is a guest post by the awesome Emily T. Wierenga -- author of books, lover of life, and general cool writer gal. Enjoy! # By Emily T. Wierenga The year is 2011, and Kasher has just turned one month. He’s a little boy in a vibrating chair at my elbow, and he’s...
Do Two Things Halfway and Fail at Both
So there's this quote, and it's something like DO TWO THINGS HALFWAY AND FAIL AT BOTH. But it sounds better. Like most things, you can google it. (I didn't.) The point being, I've been thinking about this concept a lot this month, as I struggle to do two things at...
How to Clear Your Mind Without Leaving Your Sofa
This is a guest post by a writer I love, and a writer you will love, too. Meet Emily P. Freeman! We all know exercise has many benefits beyond just the physical. It can help us clear out the cobwebs in our minds and see situations with a new, rejuvenated perspective....
How to Remember to Thank Others
Recently, someone did something exceedingly generous for me. Not one of those "open the door when you're limping" favors, but something beyond that. Way beyond that. And, as I lay in bed the night after said favor, my mind was racing with the various types of things I...
What I’m Reading {2015}
I've said before that for six years or so I've set a goal with my reading. For many years that goal was 100, and I'd usually exceed it by a dozen or so. In 2012, I decided to up the goal to 150, and in 2013 I upped it further to 200 (and exceeded it!). In early 2014,...
Who Do You Work For?
Recently I talked about the importance of Saying Yes to the Yes People in your life, and why you need to know who those Yes People are. (The Yes People, in brief, are the folks who call you up at in the middle of the Bachelorette Finale and want to talk about...
Say Yes to The Yes People
One day last week, I got an email from the assistant of someone I know and respect very highly. The email was asking me to do something. A close reader would've realized that it would take more than 5 minutes (actually 20 to 40 times as long), but I didn't read it...
My Evening Routine
Morning routines aren't the only thing you need to set yourself up for a great day. My evening routine is also essential to making sure I'm ready for action. It's been tweaked a bit over time, but here are the main steps I do on most evenings: Wear my blue-light...