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Before You Check Social Media, Take A Breath.

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Original image by TeroVesalainen on Pixabay
Next time you want to check Facebook, take a pause.

Breathe first.

Facebook has been carefully designed to get you coming back again and again, instinctively, all throughout the day, looking for new notifications, messages, and interesting posts.

It has been designed for addiction.

(This applies to any social media that you frequently check.)

​​The resulting instinct -- checking social media in order to resolve a momentary boredo…

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5-Minute Method for Overcoming Procrastination

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photo by @nicholasjio on unsplash
What helps you overcome procrastination on an important project?

Here's a technique that works for me:

Set a timer for 5 minutes, and make any progress on the project. I remind myself:

I can do anything for 5 minutes.  


It doesn't have to be brilliant. Just any progress is helpful for now.  

Here's the key:
Before I start the timer, I take a moment to place myself in a positive state of mind.

I close my eyes, and remind myself:

All is w…

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Repair Your Relationship to Your Productivity Tools

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image by @erothermel on unsplash: http://bit.ly/2ii61qS

​How well do these tools work for you -- your alarm clock, your to-do list, and your calendar?


If you had a good relationship with these most basic productivity tools, they can make a significant difference in helping you live a purposeful, contributory life.
People who don't feel productive, almost certainly have developed a flippant, or avoidant, attitude towards these tools:

Your alarm app/clock goes off, and you turn it off,…

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A System for Email Productivity

A decade ago, I started to help friends and colleagues with becoming more organized and efficient with their email.

A few of them said it was life-changing.

I think most of us underestimate the weight that unprocessed emails have on our psyche. We only know after we have successfully cleared our inbox. The feeling of lightness is amazing :)

When I wrote about my email processing system a few years ago, the post went viral, and was featured several times on popular sites.

Here is the newest version o…

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Be Persistent and Uncover New Solutions

Albert Einstein said this:

"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer."

He was considered one of humanity's great geniuses, and yet he credited persistence for solving his greatest challenges.

I have been discovering this to be true in my own business and life.  When I am willing to stay just a bit longer with a problem -- rather than just give up and quit -- I eventually find a good solution.

For a moment, I invite you to "step back" and take a look at your …

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