The Brain Hacks Top Founders Use To Get The Job Done Katia Verresen's new client had a big problem: He needed to find three to four extra hours in his day. This, of course, seemed like an impossible feat for an oversubscribed startup founder, but his ability to fundraise and recruit the best talent depended on it. By the time he met Verresen, executive coach to many such founders, he was drained, pessimistic, dreading every week before it started. Even though tech culture champions sleeplessness, overtime and burnout, Verresen has seen how this mindset can lead to failure. To turn it around, her first order of business is to collect as much data on her clients as she can and funnel it into a plan with one goal: Maximizing energy. But the proof is in the pudding. Her method has turned Verresen into one of the most sought after coaches in the business. Filling Your Buckets Maintaining and using energy wisely might seem like obvious advice, but it’s hardly ever heeded. Physical Energy: The foundation of everything you do.
GTD Cheatsheet – An Intro on the GTD system The system created by David Allen in his popular book Getting Things Done focuses on freeing up your mind’s RAM (or resources). The GTD system simply takes all or our mental and physical “stuff” in our lives and organizes it into a system where we can easily: 1) Act on it or 2) Store it and retrieve it later. The GTD Cheatsheet is a small, condensed version of GTD. In no ways is it a substitute, but a quick reference guide to get you back on track with Getting Things Done (or introduced if you’re never seen it before). 1. 2. 3. How To Motivate Yourself: 3 Steps Backed By Science You make goals… but then you procrastinate. You write a to-do list… but then you don’t follow through. And this happens again and again and again. Seriously, what’s the problem? Why are we so good at thinking of what to do but so terrible at actually doing those things? The problem is you’re skipping an essential step. The Mistake Every Productivity System Makes Productivity systems rarely take emotions into account. We can’t ignore our emotions. And we can’t fight our feelings. Via The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking: …when experimental subjects are told of an unhappy event, but then instructed to try not to feel sad about it, they end up feeling worse than people who are informed of the event, but given no instructions about how to feel. So what does the unavoidable power of feelings mean for motivation? In their book Switch, Chip and Dan Heath say that emotions are an essential part of executing any plan: Focus on emotions. 1) Get Positive It’s optimism.
The Complete Flake’s Guide to Getting Things Done Are you smart and motivated and passionate, and have lots of cool things you’d like to get done, but somehow when it comes to doing them, you just . . . don’t? Are you great at ideas but lousy at execution? Talk a good game but don’t get any results? Spend a lot of time thinking about where you want to go, but not much time actually moving your ass down the road that would take you there? You, my friend, are a flake. Most of us are creative and smart. What we lack is focus. That, and we lack this “drive” thing. If you are a flake, you need to learn how to get things done. We live in a world made of stuff, so it gets pretty painful when we blow stuff off. What Do You Want Out of It? You’re not going to get a damned thing done until you actually know what you want to get out of it. I know this is making your eyes roll into the back of your head. That’s a good thing to do, but I’m not talking about that. Just know what you want to get out of the thing you’re thinking about doing. Getting Real
5 Unusual Tricks For Actually Reaching Your New Year's Goals With the new year rolling around, most of us are planning ways to improve our health, set some big goals, and finally achieve things we have been putting off for a while. But when you look at the statistics, almost 80% of people will fail by the springtime, and after a year, only a smaller percentage of people are still involved with their goals at all. So here’s how to be that tiny percentage of people that are still going strong a year later. #1 Follow intrinsic motivation… rather than forcing yourself. Let me ask you this: do you think the typical person who just begins working out during the new year will still be exercising if: They’re intrinsically motivated (they like it)They’re forcing themselves to do it by using rewards (money/food), punishments, etc. Can you guess which one? The first! Although your friend may be slimming down quicker than you after spending 5 hours a week pounding it out in the gym, see if they’re still exercising in 1-2 years when it really matters.
The Four Elements of Physical Energy and How To Master Them I have a FitBit (glorified pedometer if I ever saw one), and since getting it, my exercise goal each day is to hit 5,000 steps. On work days, I generally hit 2,000-3,000 each day consistently, meaning I only need to take a walk around the block twice when I get home to meet my goal. Recently, due to winter, I mostly was just pacing back and forth in my apartment while watching Netflix. A process that could take me up to two hours to get those extra 5,000 steps in (it's a small apartment). Now that it's warming up outside, I can get outside and get those steps within half an hour or so, depending on how fast I walk. Now that it's starting to warm up, I've also taken to parking my car further away at the office, which also helps to get the steps in. I combine this method with Jerry Scienfeld's method of "Don't Break the Chain," which REALLY helps come Sunday when I'm not doing anything or going anywhere, and therefore really do need to concentrate to get my 5k steps in.
10 Laws of Productivity You might think that creatives as diverse as Internet entrepreneur Jack Dorsey, industrial design firm Studio 7.5, and bestselling Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami would have little in common. In fact, the tenets that guide how they – and exceptionally productive creatives across the board – make ideas happen are incredibly similar. Here are 10 laws of productivity we’ve consistently observed among serial idea executors: 1. Break the seal of hesitation. A bias toward action is the most common trait we’ve found across the hundreds of creative professionals and entrepreneurs we’ve interviewed. 2. When our ideas are still in our head, we tend to think big, blue sky concepts. 3. Trial and error is an essential part of any creative’s life. To avoid ‘blue sky paralysis,’ pare your idea down to a small, immediately executable concept. 4. When working on in-depth projects, we generate lots of new ideas along the way. 5. 6. 7. 8. Few activities are more of a productivity drain than meetings. 9.
Self-Massage Moves for Back and Neck Pain By Michele BenderPhotos by Itzy Ramirez You don’t need an appointment, a spa or even another person to reap the benefits of a massage. “When it’s not possible to get a professional treatment, you can relieve everyday aches and tension on your own,” explains Elizabeth Bryan Bragg, a licensed massage therapist at Shift PT in New York City. “Massage assistance equipment such as Theracane, Backnobber and foam rollers are great tools to use for myofascial release and relaxation of tired, knotted muscles,” adds Scott Danberg, director of fitness at the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa in Miami. However, often all you really need are your own hands and in some cases, a tennis ball, to help release the pain in your neck, shoulders and back. “Just note that you should never put direct pressure on your spine,” adds Bragg. Related: 5 More Moves to Send Back Pain Packing Try these five self-massage techniques to beat neck and back pain. Soothe: Back of the neck pain Soothe: Upper back pain