Productivity

We all encounter procrastination in our working lives. It’s a completely normal and human experience, albeit frustrating at times. First things first, the best action you can take is to give yourself a break from feeling guilty. We can then move on to using the DUST tool to identify why you’re stuck in procrastination mode,

On this episode, we chat about motivation, and how to find more of it. Topics covered include: The different theories of motivation Approach vs. avoidance-based motivation The need for achievement, and incentives for success Keeping a “resistance list” Discovering the opposite of procrastination Finding motivation through what we value Links mentioned in this episode: You

At Think Productive, we are all about Superpowers – the hidden Warp Propulsion Power System that lies within us all, and offers the possibility of high impact, low friction work and play – if we can only find it.  And work out how to switch it on. Well, we have found the Power System.  And

Takeaway: There are 10 categories or types of basic values. Those values, along with some curious findings from the research—about what values are, what values we share, and how our individual values differ—are below. I’ve bolded the main ideas in case you want to skim! Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes, 42s. Personal values are often

If you haven’t heard about the anti-work movement yet, you likely will soon. Here’s a primer: It is indeed (albeit loosely organized) a movement, coalesced on a discussion thread on Reddit, Anti-work: Unemployment for all, not just the rich!. The movement’s founder, Doreen Ford, describes anti-work as a radical leftist movement; its philosophical foundation is

On this episode, we review a couple of pieces of productivity tech that we’ve recently been trying out: the Timeular time tracker and the reMarkable 2 paper tablet. I’ll also have a review of the reMarkable up on the website in the coming weeks! Hope you enjoy the conversation—we loved both of the devices in

Takeaway: We can be busy both in the moment and overall. The key is to minimize how busy we are in any one moment while also taking on valuable and meaningful sources of busyness the rest of the time. Estimated Reading Time: 1 minutes, 39s. Busyness gets a bad rap in productivity circles, and often

On this episode, we dig deep into the power of time blocking. Topics covered include: What “time blocking” is; The “working spheres” we occupy; The importance of time blocking when you have a lot of work; Why we should time block; How time blocking helps us work with greater intention; How we time block time

This popular article, authored by Michaela Corning, was originally published by i4cp in 2009 and updated in 2022. With an estimated 3.45 million Muslims living in the U.S. and 1.8 billion worldwide, it’s likely that awareness of Ramadan is heightening in the workplace. Ramadan, which began in North America on Saturday, April 2nd, is a

Takeaway: The tasks you’re putting off might not be fun enough. Below are a few ideas for how to make your work more enjoyable. Estimated Reading Time : 2 minutes, 16s. Here’s a truth about procrastination: you do less of it when your work is enjoyable. As I’ve written about(and chatted about on the podcast),

One of the many areas of work life that was significantly disrupted in early 2020 was the way new employees were onboarded into organizations. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, on-site workers needed to be brought on in a safe, socially distanced way. Other new workers who would be remote—whether initially or indefinitely—needed onboarding in a radically

On this episode, we chat about how to work with greater intention throughout the day. Topics covered include: How intention lets us align our actions to what’s important and meaningful; The “Eisenhower Matrix” of importance and urgency; Revising the “Rule of 3” The hourly awareness chime; How to realign your focus to your intentions throughout

This popular article, authored by Michaela Corning, was originally published by i4cp in 2009 and updated in 2022. With an estimated 3.45 million Muslims living in the U.S. and 1.8 billion worldwide, it’s likely that awareness of Ramadan is heightening in the workplace. Ramadan, which began in North America on Saturday, April 2nd, is a

This popular article, authored by Michaela Corning, was originally published by i4cp in 2009 and updated in 2022. It’s that time of (the lunar) year again. The holy month of Ramadan began recently and as in previous years, i4cp has seen an uptick in the number of companies accessing our previously published articles on productivity and

Takeaway: It’s possible to catch up on tasks without working longer hours. My go-to strategies for feeling less overwhelmed at work: list out your current projects, shift or tackle deadlines when possible, block dedicated work time in your calendar, minimize chronic stress, and schedule time for your mind to wander. Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes,

I conducted an informal poll this week of people in my social network, asking them about their sense of personal well-being and wheter they’ve seen signs of strain among their co-workers. I heard from a few that the number of sick days they and their co-workers are taking is noticiably on the rise. So too