9 Productivity Tricks for Procrastinators Irony: As I started to write this article, I thought, “I’ll just go play one quick Sudoku game first.” I caught myself in the act and marched myself to my laptop. People who say that procrastination is about laziness are probably the same people who think that anorexia is about not eating enough. Procrastination isn’t about laziness. It’s about fear. It’s about perfectionism. The good news is that there are ways to get moving again. Here are 9 of my favorite tricks to help even the worst procrastinator break the habit: 1 – When you get an idea, do some little thing to begin. When I read Stephen King’s book On Writing, I noticed something. Most people get an idea. Then they sit there. They wonder if it’s a good idea. Then, they wonder if it’s a good idea some more. Got an idea? 2 – All hail small chunks of time! Lots of us complain about having no time. Are you waiting for many hours of spare time to begin your idea, your project, or your taxes? 3 – Agree to do it badly. Set a goal to do it badly.
Luxury Consumption Demand for luxury goods can be seen as a bellweather of burgeoning economies, as wealthy population segments consume more leather goods, clothes, watches, liquor and other high-end goods during boom times. The epicenter of this industry is in Europe, where companies such as LVMH, Swatch and Hermes have established dominant portfolios of luxury goods in a largely consolidated market. However, some of the most interesting regions of luxury consumption are Japan and China: Japan consumes luxury goods twice as much per capita compared to the U.S.; luxury goods consumption in this country is largely unaffected by recession, as evidenced by strong demand during the prolonged economic slowdown recently China is playing an increasingly important role in both outsourcing manufacturing for many luxury goods companies as well as end consumption. Consolidating Brands & Diversifying Products Error creating thumbnail The Swatch Group owns the Omega brand among many others Directly Operated Stores Japan
18 Tricks to Make New Habits Stick Wouldn’t it be nice to have everything run on autopilot? Chores, exercise, eating healthy and getting your work done just happening automatically. Unless they manage to invent robot servants, all your work isn’t going to disappear overnight. With a small amount of initial discipline, you can create a new habit that requires little effort to maintain. 1. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. THE MENTAL MARATHON THE MENTAL MARATHONBy Mindy Solkin Owner and Head Coach The Running Center We all know that running requires a great amount of physicality. But your mental fortitude is equally important. There are two types of mental training in the sport of running: "Association" and "Dis-association". Association or "associative running" allows you to "tune-in" to your body and its physical sensations, while Dis-association or "dis-associative running" refers to the process of "tuning-out" distractions. ASSOCIATION Association refers to running where your mind is focused on the body and you are intentionally concentrating on physical sensations. The limitations of association include: 1) Harder to learn and apply. 2) Requires mental effort. 3) Requires mental skills. DIS-ASSOCIATION Dis-association refers to running where your mind is focused either on external stimuli or internal distractions. © 2003 The Running Center™ All Rights Reserved
How to Find Your Purpose and Do What You Love “Find something more important than you are,” philosopher Dan Dennett once said in discussing the secret of happiness, “and dedicate your life to it.” But how, exactly, do we find that? Surely, it isn’t by luck. I myself am a firm believer in the power of curiosity and choice as the engine of fulfillment, but precisely how you arrive at your true calling is an intricate and highly individual dance of discovery. Still, there are certain factors — certain choices — that make it easier. Gathered here are insights from seven thinkers who have contemplated the art-science of making your life’s calling a living. Every few months, I rediscover and redevour Y-Combinator founder Paul Graham’s fantastic 2006 article, How to Do What You Love. What you should not do, I think, is worry about the opinion of anyone beyond your friends. More of Graham’s wisdom on how to find meaning and make wealth can be found in Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age. 16. 28. This is your life.
How To Create A Habit In 15 Days Most of our life is lived by habits. We learn how to ride a bike, how to drive a car, we even learn how to speak and read. And then we do all of these with minimum effort and implication. Basically, all of these are habits. They allow us to focus on other things while pushing the routine into background. It would be quite difficult to learn to drive the car every time you need to go shopping, isn’t it? As any other things in our life, habits are just tools we use in our joyful exploration of life. In today’s post I’ll share some of my experiences with habit creation using one of my favorite activities: journaling. Why Do You Need A New Habit? Well, let’s say you want a new habit in order to: write on your blog more oftenupdate your twitter status dailywrite each day a page from your new bookstart a fitness programstart a new eating habit or dietlearn a new language How To Create A Habit In 15 Days All you need for that is a journal. Day 1: Name your habit Now it’s time to get detailed.
Magazine - The Perfected Self B. F. Skinner’s notorious theory of behavior modification was denounced by critics 50 years ago as a fascist, manipulative vehicle for government control. But Skinner’s ideas are making an unlikely comeback today, powered by smartphone apps that are transforming us into thinner, richer, all-around-better versions of ourselves. The only thing we have to give up? Free will. Frederik Broden My younger brother Dan gradually put on weight over a decade, reaching 230 pounds two years ago, at the age of 50. He’d be in good company: a 2007 study by TheJournal of the American Medical Association found that each year, 160,000 Americans die early for reasons related to obesity, accounting for more than one in 20 deaths. Dan had always been a gregarious, confident, life-of-the-party sort of guy, but as his weight went up, he seemed to be winding down. Today, my brother weighs 165 pounds—what he weighed at age 23—and his doctor has taken him off all his medications. But now that’s changing.
How to Do What You Love January 2006 To do something well you have to like it. That idea is not exactly novel. The very idea is foreign to what most of us learn as kids. And it did not seem to be an accident. The world then was divided into two groups, grownups and kids. Teachers in particular all seemed to believe implicitly that work was not fun. I'm not saying we should let little kids do whatever they want. Once, when I was about 9 or 10, my father told me I could be whatever I wanted when I grew up, so long as I enjoyed it. Jobs By high school, the prospect of an actual job was on the horizon. The main reason they all acted as if they enjoyed their work was presumably the upper-middle class convention that you're supposed to. Why is it conventional to pretend to like what you do? What a recipe for alienation. The most dangerous liars can be the kids' own parents. It was not till I was in college that the idea of work finally broke free from the idea of making a living. Bounds Sirens Discipline Two Routes Notes
How to Build Self-Discipline Discipline is freedom. You may disagree with this statement, and if you do you are certainly not alone. For many people discipline is a dirty word that is equated with the absence of freedom. In fact the opposite is true. Self-discipline involves acting according to what you think instead of how you feel in the moment. Work on an idea or project after the initial rush of enthusiasm has faded awayGo to the gym when all you want to do is lie on the couch and watch TVWake early to work on yourselfSay “no” when tempted to break your dietOnly check your email a few of times per day at particular times In the past self-discipline has been a weakness of mine, and as a result today I find myself lacking the ability to do a number of things which I would like – e.g. to play the guitar. If you struggle with self-discipline, the good news is that it can be developed. 1. Discipline means behaving according to what you have decided is best, regardless of how you feel in the moment. 2. 3. 4. 5.
What It Takes to Form a Good Habit I think "accountability buddy" really misses the point. There is satisfaction and joy in accomplishing the task, but that's where accountability buddy is a misnomer. All habits of any sort will trip, falter, fail, etc. It's all about getting back in the game. People who falter in quitting smoking, depression, learning a new skill, taking up exercise or learning a new habit need a buddy who they enjoy doing it with and will help them get back in the game. We are humans and we love to connect and share experiences with - even introverts have a means by which they connect and share. By far, the most important aspect of developing any habit is the actual doing of the habit. [From years of experience as fitness center owner/operator] 9 Reasons To Choose A Corporate Job Over A Startup Fast Company recently published a widely shared post, "8 Reasons To Choose A Startup Over A Corporate Job," that almost exactly reflects conventional wisdom in Silicon Valley. While I truly appreciate the perspective of choosing a startup over a corporate job, I thought I would provide an alternate perspective, largely from my own personal experience. Now, truth be told, my data point is pretty limited on large companies--EMC is my primary point of reference as my current employer. Depending on the culture of the organization and role you have, your experience could be wildly different. Ultimately, as is said by many people far smarter than me, go where your passion lies and the rest will follow. But these 9 reasons provide you the counter-argument on why you might want to also seriously consider corporate jobs over startups, should you be given the choice. 1. ...how to create sustained profitable growth: It is very hard to grow a company from $0 to $10 million.
Self-Discipline This week I’ll be blogging a series on self-discipline. New posts on this topic will appear every day Mon-Fri. I’ve also added a new self-discipline category. In this series I’ll be focusing on what I call the five pillars of self-discipline. The Five Pillars of Self-Discipline The five pillars of self-discipline are: Acceptance, Willpower, Hard Work, Industry, and Persistence. Each day of the series, I’ll explore one of these pillars, explaining why it’s important and how to develop it. What Is Self-Discipline? Self-discipline is the ability to get yourself to take action regardless of your emotional state. Imagine what you could accomplish if you could simply get yourself to follow through on your best intentions no matter what. Self-discipline is one of many personal development tools available to you. Building Self-Discipline My philosophy of how to build self-discipline is best explained by an analogy. Progressive training means that once you succeed, you increase the challenge.