Productivity
My new path to self-discipline: DBT
My new thing is self-discipline. I am going to get better at it. I am nervous writing this, because I don't want to fail.
So this is the first thing I know: If you are really serious about doing something, it's painful to tell people, because fear of failure is so high. Once you …
How to make life more interesting
This is a guest post from Fabian Kruse. His blog is The Friendly Anarchist.
“May you live in interesting times,” a Chinese curse goes. It's true: “Interestingness” is a dangerously broad term. Having a chronic illness can be interesting but it sucks. Wars can be interesting — but they suck even more. And maybe you too …
My birthday present to myself
It’s my birthday. So I get to write about anything. I get to indulge. The first thing is that I want to republish a poem that I published a long time ago, when I thought maybe I could get away with publishing poems on my blog. Now I know that for sure, poetry kills traffic.
But …
The biggest lie you tell yourself
The biggest lie we tell ourselves is that meditating is not a high priority.
First of all, if you don't realize how much science there is behind meditation, you must be living under a rock. And the book I’m currently kvelling over, The Happiness Advantage, says that meditation, just five minutes a day, is one of …
How to know if you’re making progress
It's time for the farmer to check to see how many of his cows are pregnant.
Here's what he does: He puts five bulls in a field with 130 cows. And the bulls have been waiting all summer to breed, so they can pretty much get all the cows pregnant quickly and then all the …
How I solved my sleep problems
I'm deciding if I should take a sleeping pill.
I know tons of people who take them. I never understood the need, to be honest. I remember when I was in a mental ward. My group therapy was a bunch of eating disorder girls (which I was part of, but a little old for) and a …
Perfectionism is a disease. Here’s how to beat it.
It's amazing that people admit to being perfectionists. To me, it's a disorder, not unlike obsessive-compulsive disorder. And like obsessive-compulsive disorder, perfectionism messes you up. It also messes up the people around you, because perfectionists lose perspective as they get more and more mired in details.
We can never achieve perfection “? any of us. Yet …
Time management is not about tasks
When I was in high school, the police took me out of my parents' house and put me at my grandma's house. (Here's the story.)
My grandma spent a lot of time telling me I was special. That's exactly how she'd say it: “You're special.” And I used to think she was lying, saying that to …
How I improved my morning routine
When I was a single parent, I would get up at 6am to get ready before my kids woke up — all advice for how to get ready in the morning recommends this. But then the kids realized that if they woke up early they could watch videos, because what else is there to give …
Read More...How I decide to work on Rosh Hashannah
We drove to Iowa City yesterday, to have Rosh Hashanah with my family. I took the kids out of school and told their teachers it's the Jewish New Year so the kids will miss school. I said it in front of the kids so I can teach them that we take off a day for …
Read More...The farmer reviews three business books
When I first met the farmer, I knew he was not a normal farmer because normal farmers don't email bloggers for a date. But also, he gave himself away because he quoted Garrison Keillor to me. Then, when I thought I could not put up with him dumping me anymore, and this time would be …
Read More...Tactic for combatting distraction
It’s frog and toad mating season on the farm. The nighttime is noisy with nature sounds and the pond water ripples with round tadpoles. The farmer is full of mating factoids, like toads enjoy a threesome. Here’s a photo from the farmer:
Meanwhile, Ben Casnocha sent this link to me about sexual harassment at work. I …
Read More...Productivity is about finding space
I have often thought that we choose to marry someone who has something we don’t have, but we wish we had. So it makes sense that now that I feel secure in my relationship with the farmer, I am going to tell you what he has that I want: Photos for my blog.
I’m so bad …
How to get unstuck in life
I am a person who lives and dies by her to-do list. And right now, I'm dying.
I'm dying because I am following all the prescribed rules except one.
Here are things I'm doing well:
1. I clear my inbox. I deal with each email the second I read it—by responding, deleting, or transferring to my to …
Mindfulness makes you more productive
I'm in the midst of dumping my happiness obsession for something else, but I wonder what is the key to a good life if I'm giving up on happiness? I thought maybe it was interestingness, but I am a little worried because I confess that I'd rather fall asleep in the farmer's arms than solve …
Read More...Being an expert takes time, not talent
I’ve been walking around with the July/August 2007 issue of the Harvard Business Review constantly, for close to three years. Sometimes, if I'm getting on a plane, I'll put it with the other heavy stuff into my luggage, and then get it out later. When my last car broke down in the middle of an …
Read More...Workplace news you cannot use
I collect data points constantly, and I index them by topic, and I always hope that they will come together in an interesting, useful way. Lots of times, that doesn't happen, and I just have to throw ideas away, because I have a rule for myself that I have to be useful in every …
Read More...How to keep a New Year’s resolution
I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions. We know that people keep less than 5% of New Year’s resolutions, and I think a big reason for this is that anything we are trying to change in our lives is really about self-discipline.
I realized this after spending two years reading what positive psychologists have discovered …
How to bounce back
This is what I thought yesterday: I thought, today is the day I'm going to start going to the gym again. I am certain that no one recovers from sadness until they go back to the gym: Endorphins, routine, self-control, these are all the pieces of getting back to normal.
I have said, every day for …
What makes a blog successful?
I have always thought that blogging is a way to reach your career goals. It's hard to write a blog if you don't have a goal. You need to know what blogging success looks like to you, so you know what you’re aiming for.
Like most goals in life, my definition of blogging success has shifted …

Don't do what you love
Don't go to grad school
Blueprint for a Woman's life
Living up to your potential is BS
Choose sex over money
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