Tools for Thought

For an intention to move beyond imagination, it needs to be crystallized into a physical action, or an explicitly defined outcome that begins with a physical action. Without this reality check, the loftiest aspirations will remain inert. That doesn’t mean that dreaming is bad, or even unnecessary, but it’s not sufficient. Imagination might be insufficient, [...]

[Read more →]

The hard landscape approach to calendar management is founded on the premise that less is more. The fewer commitments you have on your calendar, the more likely you are to keep them. The most reliable number is the absolute minimum — the engagements whose time frames are non-negotiable. These engagements typically fall into three categories: [...]

[Read more →]

Looks like Ben Stein has found an even more pathetic intellectual cul-de-sac than creationism (ahem, intelligent design). It warmed my heart to learn, during his grumpy defense of the yoke, that only six percent of men still wear neckties. “Now, the tie’s situation has become so dire that the American Dress Furnishings Association — the [...]

[Read more →]

Procrastination is a loaded word. If taken literally, any one task we’re doing at the moment is a decision to procrastinate on every other task we could be doing. But when most people talk about procrastination, they’re talking about the experience of feeling off-purpose with whatever they sense they should be doing. I say “sense” [...]

[Read more →]

When people try to keep or manage their commitments in their heads, instead of on paper or some other external medium, they usually have an exaggerated sense of everything they have to do. They’ll often respond reflexively to even simple requests with something like, “But I have so much to do,” or “I just don’t [...]

[Read more →]