In chemistry, a catalyst is a chemical that speeds up a reaction but isn’t involved in the reaction itself. Iron rusts more quickly with saltwater, even though rusting results from just iron and oxygen. Catalysts lower the energy needed to trigger a reaction. Similarly, a motivation catalyst lowers the amount of energy you need to […]
Make Your Time Top-Heavy
If all the tips for getting things done needed to be summarized in three words, they would be, “Do it Now.” Today is a more valuable time to start than tomorrow. Working on the project in the next hour is better than putting it off until later in the day. Changing a habit this month […]
20 Tips for Batching to Save Time and Cut Stress
I’m batching right now. Although my articles appear almost daily on this website, I only write twice a week. This is my third article today. I was batching this morning too, when I did all my daily e-mail, RSS, website maintenance, comment-handling and inbox dumping over one 30 minute period. I’m a huge fan of […]
10 Tips for Staying Productive While Being Scheduled to Death
The quickest way to work is with a long chunk of uninterrupted time. With several hours at your disposal, you have a chance at biting off a serious chunk of those important tasks. But how can you do this when you don’t have a big chunk of time? How do you stay productive when you […]
I'm a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, podcast host, computer programmer and an avid reader. Since 2006, I've published weekly essays on this website to help people like you learn and think better. My work has been featured in The New York Times, BBC, TEDx, Pocket, Business Insider and more. I don't promise I have all the answers, just a place to start.