Some days it feels like our calendars run away from us. It might even feel like they control us instead of the other way around. We can’t possibly get it all done without dipping into our personal time. And that’s what a lot of us end up doing. A primary reason we let this happen […]

Like water, work can be life-giving. But it can also flow all over and flood our other life domains. We need boundaries to contain it. When we allow it to travel unrestricted, we’re not accomplishing more. We’re actually bringing something less than our best to both the office and home. We’re scattered and depleted instead […]

There are few things worse than walking out of a meeting, looking down at your phone, and seeing emails numbering in the double digits awaiting your response. If you travel or take vacation, the number grows even larger. It can take hours to comb through all of those messages. You probably don’t have the time […]

When I first asked my daughter, Megan Hyatt Miller, to join our company as then COO, she agreed under one condition: she had to unplug from work and leave every day at 3:00 p.m. to pick up her kids from school and enjoy her evening at home with her family. I agreed, she took the […]

I have a hard time saying “no.” Perhaps you do, too. I think it is more common than we think, especially for those who are empathetic or nurturing. Here are five reasons why we must get better.

Calendars are the lifeblood of business operations. They always have been and always will be. One of the most common observations of successful businesses (and individuals) is they are very highly organized and have a consistent procedure. A 2017 study by PMI found that only 60% of projects actually meet their goals. The primary cause […]

The best and most creative thinking and problem-solving can only take place during uninterrupted periods of time. You know it and so do your colleagues. Which is why your company wants to give everyone time one day a week—let’s say Thursday—to work alone. Easier said than done. It is difficult to control the array of […]

Tim Ferriss’s 4-Hour Workweek is an enormously popular book, selling more than 1.35 million copies since its 2007 release. But that doesn’t mean its message on how to “escape the 9-5, live anywhere, and join the new rich” sinks in right away. While Daniel Ndukwu, founder and CEO of software company Kyleads, was an early […]

I’ve always done my best to keep up with the latest research in goal achievement. I not only want to learn from it myself, I also want to distill the lessons for fellow leaders. But the tricky thing about science is that it often causes us to reevaluate our assumptions. That reevaluation can be uncomfortable, […]

It’s hard to maintain your focus in an office. With so many meetings to attend, drop-ins by coworkers, calls, emails, and countless other interruptions, it can seem like a miracle that anything ever gets done. But do you know who the biggest culprit often is when it comes to sabotaging your productivity with distractions? Look […]

When I started my career, I quickly discovered that I had more to do than I could get done in a forty-hour workweek. So, I worked more hours. I got to the office at 5:00 a.m. and usually didn’t leave until 6:00 p.m. I often worked on Saturday mornings and Sunday evenings, too. It wasn’t […]

If you are working more than fifty-five hours a week, you are working too much. Here is what you are putting to risk.

Low engagement and productivity are serious problems for organizations. As I mentioned Monday, Gallup’s numbers show only a third of workers are engaged on the job. The office is actually the last place most people want to be when they need to be productive and complete a task. What about you?

Since we announced the Full Focus Planner™ a few months ago, I’ve lost track of how many people have asked me about my plans for task and calendar management. Am I planning on going full analog? It’s an important question. When it comes to planning our time, reviewing our goals, and tracking our tasks, we […]

A few years ago, I read David Sax’s book, The Revenge of Analog. The premise? After years of being pushed aside by digital solutions, analog applications have been making a surprising comeback. That resonated with my own experience. Most of my audience knows me as a techie. But I was in the book business for […]

Tell me if this sounds familiar: You’ve got big goals for the year. Maybe for your career, your health, your family, and the like. But it’s easy to lose visibility in the whirlwind of daily life. You’re productive, no question. Sometimes you’re flying faster than a tornado. But to what end? It’s like there’s no […]

Years ago, I heard a motivational speaker encourage his audience to “eat that frog.” The line has a long history. And it makes sense: Stop procrastinating and just do the thing you fear. Once you do that, everything else is easy. While that may be helpful in overcoming procrastination, it’s exactly backwards for big goals […]

We all have things we do really well. In our businesses, these are usually the tasks that drive revenue. But if you’re like most entrepreneurs and executives, you probably only spend 20 percent of your time on these tasks. The rest goes to solving other people’s problems, wading through oceans of email, attending inefficient meetings, […]

I’ve been a serious student of productivity for a couple decades now. As the primary income earner in a family of seven, I had to be. When I first started in business, I lived in a constant state of feeling overwhelmed. Work took my best, and I struggled to find time for my family and […]

The way we’re doing productivity isn’t working. I hear stories and regrets that confirm it whenever I talk with entrepreneurs, executives, and other busy leaders. The old methods are no match for all the interruptions and distractions of today’s environment. Thankfully, there’s a new, emerging science of productivity—and you’re invited to listen to eight of […]

I don’t have to go to the doctor very often. But when I do go, I notice they follow the same routine. It only takes a few minutes, but they start by checking my weight, pulse, blood pressure, and other vitals. The idea is to get a quick read on my overall health. Getting a […]

It’s that time of year, right? Spring cleaning. It’s an annual tradition that goes back forever. And most of us get a piece of the action. Seven in ten Americans participate every year. I’ve seen dozens of spring cleaning checklists, tips, and shortcuts. But there’s one thing most of these lists miss, and it’s usually […]

My wife, Gail, recently purchased a DVD set of The Jetsons. Remember that? The cartoon imagined what life would be like in the future: robots, flying cars, and other conveniences—like minimal work hours. But it hasn’t panned out like that, has it? Believe it or not, since the 1930s economists and others predicted a future […]

I know what you’re thinking, but I’m talking about margin—breathing room, think time, downtime, those moments we all desperately need really stay effective and enjoy the things that matter most. But the truth is we seem to be getting less and less of it. Not only are prices racing while wages slow, but we’re working […]