Discomfort makes you smarter faster
US comedian Steve Martin’s stand up skills progressed faster when he started doing something that made him feel the most uncomfortable - writing his jokes. This article explains why.
Rethink how to find lasting happiness
Oliver Burkeman is an award-winning journalist and contrarian thinker. His book, TheAntidote, Burkeman reckons we’ve got happiness all wrong. Instead of trying harder we should just drop trying to be happy all together. It’s the conditions of happiness we place on ourselves he argues that create a gap in our ability to be happy.
How to escape the prison of victimhood
Victimhood is a seductive and all too common trap that robs the people that fall prey to it of their freedom and a workplace of the creative energy it needs to thrive. Inside is how to recognise and take steps to sidestep this trap.
Feeling guilty while on vacation is much worse than not going at all
If you feel guilty about pursuing leisure or vacation time at the expense of work you won’t get any of the gains of taking time out, says University of Rutgers Business School Professor Gabriela Tonietto. In fact, it will make you feel worse.
A smarter path involves focusing on the gains to your future productivity and mental health by taking time out over the guilt of leaving work behind.
Rethink finding satisfaction at work
In The Song of Significance, Seth Godin highlights a major problem in today’s workplaces: the lack of meaningful and significant work. He offers a clear path to help individuals and organisations rediscover purpose and create work that truly matters.
How to outsmart work overload and bring back creativity
This week I learned how smart people can easily fall into the trap of over relying on their experience to solve problems when pressed for time, instead of remaining open to new and better ideas.
Using a cue and a simple thinking hack can help smart people outsmart this problem.
How to live longer with stress as your friend
In a study of 30,000 people over eight years in the United States, researchers found that people who experienced very high levels of stress in the previous year had a 43% increased chance of dying. But only if they believed stress was bad for them.
How ‘focused distraction’ leads to greater creativity
The key to maintaining productivity when you need to access your creativity isn’t taking days off, it’s building in focused distractions argues Michael Roberto in his book Unlocking Creativity. Small shifts in perspective, environment and activity quickly recharge the mind and overcome the inevitable brain lag that comes from creative overuse.
Rituals can open the door to meet a new you
This week Jody Miller teaches me all about the ancient practice of Misogi which has been used for centuries in Japan to help create space for new beginnings.
How to reframe difficult conversations into learning conversations
It’s common to be wary of having difficult conversations. Particularly where the stakes of them going wrong are high. The solution is to turn them into learning conversations instead of inquisitions. This article shows you how.
How innovation is easier when you think in new boxes
This week Luc de Brabandere helps me understand why we can’t think outside the box, we have to create entirely new ones to innovate.
Why anxiety and innovation must coexist
In less than five years, 70% of our workforce will be made up of Gen Z and Millennials. According to Deloitte they suffer significant levels of stress and anxiety which will impact how innovation and complex problems are solved in the future. This article provides three strategies to support the mental health of our younger generation and create conditions to enable innovation and complex problem solving.
Become a better procrastinator to boost your productivity
Oliver Burkeman points out in his book Four Thousand Weeks, we are becoming overly obsessed with mastering something we will never be able to achieve. That is, we'll never be able to accomplish everything we’d like to in the time we’re alive. To accomplish more in the time we have, he argues, we should aim to become better procrastinators. This article shares how you can do that.
Three hacks to overcome boredom and bring back motivation
Boredom is inevitable when completing tasks that we perceive offer no new skills or challenge. This article provides three simple hacks to keep your motivation high and allow you to achieve more.
How to fast track mastery
In his book Mastery, Robert Greene provides a breakdown of the six key steps to achieve mastery in any field. This article provides a short summary of them to help you develop your expertise faster.
Asking questions builds greater trust
The number one reason that builds trust between leaders and their direct reports is their willingness to ask questions, according to research by University of Houston professor Brené Brown. This article tells you why and how you can use it to build more trust with your leaders.