productivity
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You can’t schedule joy
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2 min read
“We make lists because we don’t want to die,” said Italian novelist and philosopher Umberto Eco. The problem with lists though is that we tend to include things we enjoy doing like writing, reading, meditating, along with other habits we should do, like exercise or our grocery shopping. When we fail to cross an item…
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The study of parts
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1 min read
Picture upon picture, piece upon piece, we dance with the smaller units to draw clarity into the bigger puzzle. But it’s no wonder few people actually want to deal with the micro-units. All the details do is drive the layman insane. Generalists suffer at the hands of decision fatigue. The subtleties inspire the specialists to…
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Pursuing boredom for boredom’s sake
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2 min read
If you can’t stand boredom for boredom’s sake, take on a mundane task to put your mind in a wandering state. Doing the dishes, organizing your vinyl collection, mowing the lawn, and taking a shower are all triggers that help release you from the grip of now. Your brain needs time to chew over all that it…
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Accept compliments but do not inhale
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1 min read
When it comes to compliments, you accept them but you do not inhale. Kudos is as ephemeral as a Facebook like. Congratulations acknowledge your existence and provide a dopamine boost. But they can also turn the ego into an enemy. Praise takes no responsibility for the passion and head work at play. Like Darwin’s finches,…
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Debugging the messy days
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1 min read
We spend more time debugging the messy days than celebrating the good days. Negativity is sticky—and harping on it merely strengthens the doldrums. The trick to moving forward is reprogramming the mind machine. That is, instead of beating ourselves up, we should view our mistakes as learning experiences. A dose of pragmatism never hurt anybody.
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How to keep the good, going
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2 min read
What goes up must come down. Complacency eventually turns into panic. Once the stream of contentedness kicks in, progress stymies. The will to compete and improve wanes. Expectations which set the tone of achievement, fall at the wayside. Motivation is a wonder drug. As Brian Eno said, “Everything good comes from enthusiasm.” The urge to…
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Evaluating self-growth
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1 min read
Resolving a problem creates new challenges, not in the immediate front but in the long-term as we learn new things and the issues become more transparent. This is why most people prefer to live in the comfort of the status quo. Why change a lifestyle that throws us off the pedestal of satisfaction? Life is…
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Notice the light inside
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1 min read
The artist over the critic, the maker over the collector, the writer over the reader. Once we become creators rather than passive consumers and dive deep in, we preserve our own history. Ignoring our calling to shake off a responsibility merely postpones an itch that intensifies with time. Unlike robots, humans are light inside. We…
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What introverts do at parties
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1 min read
If you read Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, you’d realize introversion is not a disease nor does it make poor leaders. The opposite is true. Introverts are often more sociable in intimate settings although they like to “recharge at parties,” with a preference on listening, thinking,…
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Constraint is freedom
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1 min read
More often than not we aim for freedom from constraint. No one likes to be nailed down to a particular way of doing things. But on some occasions, constraints can be freeing. For one, deadlines are great motivators. We’d never get anything done without any pressure. Writing is difficult enough — put a cap on…
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In the search of greatness
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1 min read
Great athletes break the mold. They’re not just gifted. They get creative in the arena, using their intuition and imagination to do things never seen before on stage. The same genius can be said for select actors, musicians, scientists, thinkers and the like. In the fortchoming documentary In Search of Greatness, director Gabe Polsky takes…
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Home is work. Work is home.
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1 min read
Home is work. Work is home. With the smartphone, we straddle one foot in and out of the office at the same time. There is no real freedom, no way to untether from the tyranny of the desk. We are addicted to being ON all the time. But the phone is not the new cigarette,…