The Art of Getting Less Done

While working long hours and cranking out a lot of widgets is one way to go, another is to work on important things, to create amazing things, and then to relax. I’m not saying you should surf the web all day, or take naps all afternoon … but why not? Why not enjoy a much deserved, or a not so well deserved  nap? Why not take a long lunch and then a siesta? Why not enjoy a long bath, or a good book? I hear...

Spotting and Solving Ten Negative Self-Talk Traps

Writing and working (still) in the shadow of the 2006 best-seller,  ” The Secret”, I come across clients who have this information, the idea that positive thinking is the beginning to a better way of life, yet are still struggling. Positive thinking, and the art and practice of it is not only misunderstood, but fairly overrated as well. Simply thinking “positively” without first taking...

Email sanity: Get a Handle On Your Inbox

The beauty of an empty inbox is a thing to behold. It is calming, peaceful and wonderful. An inbox that is overflowing with actions, urgent calls for responses, stuff to read … it’s chaos, it’s stressful, it’s overwhelming. A friend recently posted: “Help! I’m drowning in email!” Let’s look at how to get your head above water first, and then how to get safely to dry land. Head Above Water You need...

Living Goal Free

“With the past, I have nothing to do, nor with the future. I live now.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson The idea of having concrete, achievable goals seem to be deeply ingrained in our culture. I know I lived with goals for many years, and in fact a big part of my writings here on Zen Habits are about how to set and achieve goals. These days, however, I live without goals, for the most part. It’s absolutely liberating,...

NLP, Sales & Persuasion…

I recently sat down with an old friend, Janet who works in commercial real estate. Janet was asking me about “this NLP stuff” (as she called it) and how she could apply some of the principles to her business in order to increase sales. Needless to say… Our “30-minute lunch” quickly became a 3 1/2 hour NLP lesson on how she could make a few small adjustments and increase her number of...