Competition is stressful, but many regard it as a powerful driver of personal growth. Competitive fire has been praised for the success of political candidates, Olympic athletes, and champion chess players who reached the top by racing someone else. But what we rarely talk about are people who do great without competing against others. In … Read More
Why do you get up in the morning? What drives you to work, create, and connect with people? Many traditional models of motivation argue human beings are mostly driven by rewards—whether financial, material, or social—or by fear of punishment. At work, money is often used as a productivity driver. But author Daniel Pink suggests a … Read More
Many people believe the more they work, the more productive they are. But it couldn’t be further from the truth. How much work is enough work? Is there an ideal number of hours you should work everyday? This is an interesting question at the intersection of productivity and time management. And the good news is: … Read More
Despite my existential doubts, I have always considered myself a fairly ambitious person. Of course, between my education by two driven parents—you don’t go from cleaning lady to director without a bit of ambition—and a potential but still elusive ambition gene, I don’t have anything to brag about. But, for some reason, since I was … Read More
As someone who suffers from time anxiety—the constant fear that it’s too late to learn something new, to start a new project, to change direction—I often push myself to be as productive as humanly possible. Our society has been built on productivity principles. However, since the turn of the century, many entrepreneurs, researchers, and managers … Read More
Whether you have a job and a few side projects or you are a full-time entrepreneur, chances are you consider your work a part of your identity. “What do you do?” is one of the most common icebreakers when we meet new people. Certain jobs are thought to breed certain mindsets. Some are considered—rightly or … Read More
You have a plan. It sounds like a good, solid plan. You’ve written it down. You’ve even asked for feedback. You’re ready to execute. Then, down the line, something goes wrong. Despite all your effort and care, the painstakingly crafted strategy doesn’t seem to work. What happened? The reason why most strategies fail is they’re … Read More
Many people manage their tasks using a to-do list. Everything they need need to work on at some point ends up on that list, and they measure their productivity by looking at the number of tasks completed in a certain amount of time. While I’m a big fan of checklists—which have a clear objective—I don’t … Read More
Should you share your work in progress and learn in public? Lots of research has been conducted to determine whether sharing your goals in public was a good thing or a bad thing. Some studies show that people are more likely to do stuff if they keep their intentions private. Basically, goal sharing may give … Read More
When you buy a new product, it usually comes with a user manual. It’s a document designed to help you make the best use of that particular product, with detailed instructions. It’s a guide to using a specific system. But when we meet a new person, we need to figure things out through trial and … Read More