The Incrementalist

Do you struggle to stick with challenging projects?
Can you stay curious when you do tedious tasks?
How do you deal with boring, hard things you have to do?

Habits help you automate positive behavior a…

Are you feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list?  

Do you have thoughts churning around, usually about things you don’t control? 

Is lack of clarity stopping you from taking action?  

If you feel stuck, …

Do you have trouble remembering to do a new habit?

Are you setting the right conditions to form the habit?

Do you lose motivation when you don’t get immediate results?

Habit stacking is a quick way to b…

Goals are the results and outcomes you want to achieve. They are the direction you want to head in, at least for the time being.  But systems are what create the desired results and outcomes. 

Your da…

Do you get overwhelmed by digital task management tools?  

Are you seeking a good mix of structure and flexibility in your day?

Is there an easy, stress-free way to block time for important projects?

Wh…

Are you in a cul-de-sac, on a cliff, or in the dip?

Patience and persistence are essential for success. If you give up whenever you face a challenge or an obstacle, you’re bound to fail. But you also …

The start of the new year is an ideal time to take stock and reflect. January 1, the 1st of every month, or the start of a new season are temporal landmarks. This is when many of us set goals or reco…

At the end of the year and the start of a new one, we tend to reflect on accomplishments and think about aspirations. There’s nothing wrong with keeping the status quo if it works for you. Constantly…

We have all experienced anxiety on some level at various points in our lives. COVID-19 and the global response to it have brought massive changes and deep uncertainty since the start of 2020.

Before …

There are news stories and articles on how we have the attention span of a goldfish. You might have heard that with the Internet, we can now only focus for 8 seconds at a time. The good news is there…

Is boredom a negative emotion? It is defined as a feeling of discontent with something that is dull, repetitive, tiresome or tedious. We prefer to stay away from anything that is boring to us. But bo…

Some of the wealthiest people are the most depressed and saddest in the world.  Having too much stuff can be distracting and overwhelming. Less stuff brings more clarity, more space, and more freedom…

Small wins make you more productive, creative, committed, collegial, and focused. When you track the progress you’ve made, no matter how small, you gain confidence that builds on the momentum. With a…

When you’re acquiring and developing a new skill, you need to learn how to learn. Learning is a meta-skill for life and for sustaining peak performance. This continuation of a two-parts episode build…

When you’re learning and developing any skill, it’s better to have a growth mindset, than a fixed mindset. Talent and natural ability do matter. But your attitude towards failure and setbacks are mor…

Making space between activities can be done solo, without allies. But industry norms and workplace culture might pull you back into chronic busyness. Norms are standards or principles of action that …

To do creative, high-leverage work, you need to step back and look at the big picture. But when there are fires to put out, demands to meet, and crises to solve, it’s hard to stop and think about wha…

Industrialization created a clock time mentality. Time is now standardized, visible in the ticking minutes, and outside our existence.  Time is a resource to make money, and a thing to be traded, max…

We often get stressed and anxious when the thing we want done is not done. We want what we want now. We don’t like waiting. Patience is sometimes seen as an anti-skill that wastes time, or a sign of …

If you want to get to the next level, you need willpower to make creative breakthroughs and steady progress. Don’t you? After all, willpower helps you to beat distractions and delay gratification to …