Procrastinate Now

I can’t believe I’m recommending a TED Talk that explores how procrastination can make you better at what you do, but this one is so good and the info so compelling that I had to share it with you.

Maybe you can watch it while you put off that project with the looming deadline.

Soul Food

Peace by aotaro

This month I’m doing quite a bit of teaching around Leading Yourself, what we used to call Personal Management in LEAD 365. We work with a lot of successful, growing leaders, some of whom have great boundaries and limits, and some of whom struggle to do anything but work. I tend to fall into the second camp. I like to achieve—to a fault—so even if I’m not working toward something in my career, you can be sure that I’m working toward something, even if that something is simply all the laundry washed, dried, and put away.

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The Collins “Stop Doing” List

Stop by cobblucas

I love Jim Collins (who doesn’t?), and recently reread his great USA Today article “Best New Year’s Resolution? A ‘Stop Doing’ List” from way back in 2003. In it, Collins shares his story of discovering his purpose and changing careers so he could live into that purpose, partly by deciding what he needed to stop doing.

I’ve been thinking about purpose, vision, and values a lot lately. Continue reading

How I Stopped Multitasking and Started Getting Stuff Done

Multitask by ryantron

(This post was originally published on the Leading by DESIGN Leadership Matters blog for alumni of LEAD 365.)

Have you seen the Pixar film Up? You know, the one about the old man (Carl) who inflates thousands of balloons to fly his house to the jungle, and accidentally gives a ride to an eager young Wilderness Explorer (Russell) who is trying to get his badge for helping the elderly. My favorite character in the movie is Dug, the friendly, enthusiastic dog that Carl and Russell meet partway through the movie. Dug is my favorite not just because I love dogs, but because he perfectly illustrates my view of multitasking. Take a look at this clip to see if you get what I’m implying about multitasking:Continue reading

Maxed Out

As I was researching my recent post on working moms of young children, I came across Katrina Alcorn’s TED Talk “Maxed Out – Changing the conversation about women and work.” It’s a great deeper dive into one woman’s story of being seriously maxed out and how she changed her life as a result.

Stretched Too Thin

Stressed by SodanieChea

(This post originally appeared on Leading By DESIGN’s Leadership Matters blog, which is written for alumni of our LEAD 365 program. I am part of the LbD team and want to share our posts with you.)

A few weeks ago I borrowed a book from my sister about making time for self care. Not surprisingly (and somewhat ironically), I haven’t had time to read it. I don’t consider myself very busy compared to many of the people I work with. Sure, I work a lot of hours, but my work hours are flexible, I have just one child, my husband and I both work from home quite a bit, and we hire people to clean for us. But still, I have very little extra time.

I specialize in coaching women and emerging leaders, and I’ve seen a trend in the women I’ve coached over the last seven years. Many of them are incredibly accomplished in their careers, have small children and equally busy partners, and prioritize their own self care absolutely last. I’ve been wondering about why this is, and how, as a coach, to help. There are no cut and dry answers. Every individual is different, and every stage of life presents its own challenges.

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