If you know my work, you know I'm no fan of checking email on vacation. A recent email exchange I had with a friend reminded me why this is such a damaging habit. Me: When can you get this done? Friend: I’m on vacation, but maybe tomorrow. Friend, on a new topic: See...
This is the season when time seems to magically speed up — and to-do lists somehow grow longer every time we look at them. The holidays don't have to be harried, though. Today, I've got tips to help you save time on shopping and other holiday chores. The goal is to...
If you have frequent business travel, you know that being away from your home base can do a number on your productivity and your stress levels. But you can make the most of your time on the road while you ensure things are running smoothly back at the office. It just...
Productivity and creativity are closely related. You need both to achieve your goals. So I teamed up with my friend and creativity expert Jen Spencer of The Creative Executive to give you insight into a personal success plan for 2016. Click here to answer questions...
Travel Tips That Work for Vacation, Too I was recently approached by Entrepreneur Magazine to write an article about getting back into the swing after a mid-week business trip. I discussed how to quickly catch up on email (learn about my "Four Pass Technique"),...
“Conventional Wisdom” when it comes to vacations has two big problems: People skip vacation altogether with the rationalization that it would just mean working twice as hard before and after, so it’s not worth it. (43% of Americans don’t take all of their vacation...
(A version of this article was recently published in the Austin Business Journal. Below I’ll cover some of the high points of that piece.) Think you don’t have time to take a vacation? Think you can’t afford it? Think again. Recent studies make a convincing argument...
The recent article in the New York Times, “The Workplace Benefits of Being Out of Touch” was thought provoking. It can be a challenge to unplug from email, but I realized that the behavior described in the article is based on two large assumptions. First, the article...
In addition to managing stress by being in control of the details of your life, yesterday we had the first half of a guest post from Dr. Harvey Kitzman, explaining exactly what stress does and how it affects us. Below he shares his top 6 easy and inexpensive ways to...
I think the best way to deal with the stress of our busy lives is to be in CONTROL over the details, having everything out of your head where you can see it and manage it effectively. That’s why I teach people the Empowered Productivity System, to turn chaos into...
