Cal Newport has a podcast called Deep Questions. In one of his episodes, he interviewed another favorite counter-cultural crusader of mine named Laura Vanderkam. Laura Vanderkam is an author and podcaster who loves to study and write about how to make the most of your time. In Cal and Laura’s episode, they talk about the importance of designing your ideal week - like really sitting down and thinking about and refining what the building blocks of an ideal week are.
Read MoreCal Newport is one of my favorite counter-cultural authors. He has done so much to help me retrain my brain to reject the trance of busyness. In his books Deep Work, Digital Minimalism, and Slow Productivity (his newest tome), he makes persuasive arguments to discard pseudo productivity busyness mindsets and embrace languid intentionality instead.
Read MoreThe end of May is a transitional time for many people. With school ending and the shifts this changeover necessitates, it’s a good time to look at any goals or resolutions we set at the beginning of the year to see if we can set any in motion in the summer season.
Read MoreLazy is a four-letter word in our culture. It’s one of those adjectives we never want affixed to our names. However, a recent podcast helped me to reframe my ideas on laziness.
Read MoreI’m celebrating a big 4-year milestone – my fourth anniversary with Focus To Evolve!
Read MoreDo you wake up in the morning, and the first thing you do is reach for your phone? Whether you’re grabbing your phone to check your email, social media, or the news, you may want to consider a change in that habit.
Read MoreRaise your hand if you currently or ever had a job that keeps you sitting for most hours of the day. I’m definitely in this boat. And I’ve had seasons of life when I’ve felt so tired after sitting at a desk all day that I go home and just sit some more. Sometimes days feel so hectic that scheduling time to exercise feels like one task too many. But for many successful people, skipping movement in their day is an absolute no-no.
Read MoreJust because it’s possible to respond right away to every request for communication we receive, doesn’t mean we have to respond right away. It’s ok to have times when we’re unavailable and respond to people during the timeframes that work best for us.
Read MoreIn the hustle and grind culture that we live in, we’re given the impression that if you want to get ahead you not only have to work late every weeknight, but you should also sacrifice your weekends. But someone who disabused me of this notion was Colin Powell.
Read MoreAbout a year ago, I was looking through my son’s school vacation schedule and entering his vacation days on my calendar. On April 8, 2024, I noticed a unique day off designation: Total Solar Eclipse. I was intrigued. The school district is giving all the kids a day off for an eclipse? How marvelous!
Read MoreSo many of us think that if we want to get more done, we need to do more at one time. But what if the secret to getting more done is ruthlessly focusing on just one thing at a time, completing that one thing, and then focusing on the next?
Read MoreWarren Buffet is the patron saint of “no.” He famously claims:
“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.”
Read MoreToday is the first day of spring! Oh, glorious spring – a time when all lifeforms shake off that winter sluggishness and slowly come back to life. It’s a time when the increasing sunlight and warmer temperatures give us renewed energy to tackle our daily affairs again. For many, it’s a time for spring cleaning.
Read MoreDo you ever find yourself with a to do list that is 30+ items long and completely unrealistic given the number of hours in a day? Did you know that many successful individuals actively limit the number of tasks that they focus on in any given day?
Read MoreMeetings…I know very few working professionals who do not feel overwhelmed by meetings. I can’t tell you how many client calendars I’ve seen that are nothing but back-to-back meetings. There are a couple of thoughts and stories that have helped me to make meetings a less overwhelming part of my life.
Read MoreI’ve always valued my time outside of work as equal to or more important than my time at work. I do my job, and I do it well during the hours I’m supposed to be there. But then I turn work off, and I live my personal life just as well.
Read MoreSo many of us allow our work schedule to be the first grabber of our time, and then we fit our family around the time that work doesn’t occupy. But this doesn’t have to be the order of priority.
Read MoreIt’s Valentine’s week, and we at Focus to Evolve want to take this opportunity to send you love.
Read MoreNaps have been a celebrated way to recharge batteries and even find inspiration for as long as our species has existed.
Read MoreOne of my favorite counter-cultural activities is companies or individuals who go on vacation and auto-delete emails that are received when they are out of the office. Many workers don’t use all of their vacation days, and a big reason why they don’t use their time is because of the mountain of emails they have waiting for them when they return. Well, some companies and individuals have found a way to eliminate that issue.
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