Casey’s eTips

eTips are quick suggestions for improving productivity.  You can quickly digest the tip and put it to use immediately.  Sign up to receive eTips via email using the form on the right, or read them online, below and on Casey’s blog.

eTips
September 24, 2024

Casey’s eTip: When in Doubt, Throw It Out

Here's an organizing idea that's easy to remember… Casey's eTip: When in Doubt, Throw It Out When deciding what to keep and what to delete when it comes to your digital and physical-world items, recognize that doubt means that there's no strong reason to retain something. You wouldn't hesitate to…
eTips
September 17, 2024

Casey’s eTip: See Your Real Due Dates Clearly

It's human nature to assign wishful or hopeful due dates to specific tasks. These fake deadlines can get in the way, however, because you need to… Casey's eTip: See Your Real Due Dates Clearly Your to-do system only works if you can fully trust it to alert you when a…
eTipsNews
September 11, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Ask a Question to Help You Decide

When you face a particularly challenging task (and want to run) or need to make an important life or work decision… Casey's eTip: Ask a Question to Help You Decide As Oliver Burkeman notes in his wonderful book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, the Jungian analyst James Hollis…
eTips
September 2, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Rest from Your Labor

There is a reason major religions advocate for a weekly day of rest and laborers fought (and died) for a couple days off per week--you thrive when you... Casey's eTip: Rest from Your Labor We don't need rest and relaxation simply as a way to recharge our batteries for more…
eTips
August 27, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Make Decisions Proportionately

Some decisions are worth agonizing over. Others, not so much. To spend your time wisely… Casey's eTip: Make Decisions Proportionately Some decisions are mountains, others are hills and the majority are molehills. Spend your time pondering options, etc., in proportion to the size and impact of the decision in question.…
eTips
August 21, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Outsmart Your Brain to Exercise

There is one common denominator that all my highest-performing clients share: they exercise regularly. Starting an exercise habit takes effort, though. You need to… Casey's eTip: Outsmart Your Brain to Exercise We are designed to conserve our energy. Exercising disrupts that natural tendency. As this Time article explains, simply knowing…
eTips
August 13, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Take Care of Your Precious Eyes

Focusing on screens (computer, phone, watch, tablet, etc.) for long periods of time can lead to eye strain, which diminishes productivity. To prevent such strain… Casey's eTip: Take Care of Your Precious Eyes The American Academy of Opthamology offers tips to keep your eyes healthy. Here are a few… *Remind…
eTips
August 6, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Recharge with Mindfulness Mini-Breaks

Human beings are not built to sit staring at screens for hours on end. Our energetic batteries can get low quickly, so it helps to… Casey's eTip: Recharge with Mindfulness Mini-Breaks Taking a 2-minute mindfulness break every 60 minutes (or more often if needed) is a free, discreet, ever-available way…
eTips
July 30, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Take Notes Then Let Them Go

Taking handwritten notes during meetings focuses your attention and engages multiple parts of your brain, improving your memory. Instead of keeping these notes or transcribing them, however, you might... Casey's eTip: Take Notes Then Let Them Go Ideally, there will be meeting minutes that briefly identify the decisions and action…
eTips
July 23, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Turn Off Your Email Alerts

US workers receive an average of 120 emails a day (BR.org 01/2019). If your phone or laptop notifies you when they arrive, you may be getting interrupted every 4 minutes of an 8-hour day. It's time to... Casey's eTip: Turn Off Your Email Alerts "You will never forget to check…
eTips
July 16, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Say Yes to Yourself

Boundary-setting gets a bad rap, as if it's negative: just saying "no" or even building walls. Really, it's a way to… Casey's eTip: Say Yes to Yourself Boundary-setting lets us "yes" to ourselves, meaning our needs, values, goals, passions, loved ones, most important work tasks, etc. As Brene Brown puts…
eTips
July 9, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Be Silent for 20 Seconds

Want to understand your client, connect with your boss or make your loved one feel cared for? Listen intently to what they say and then… Casey's eTip: Be Silent for 20 Seconds Listening attentively, actively and with empathy is a gift to the speaker. Such listening requires silence, too. Give…
eTips
July 2, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Take Quick Vacations and Refresh!

We know that rest is good for us, but a big vacation can be stress-inducing to plan and coordinate. Fortunately, you don't have to take a long trip to reap rewards… Casey's eTip: Take Quick Vacations to Refresh As Alex Soojung-kim Pang, author of Rest: Why You Get More Done…
eTips
June 25, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Ask for Solutions Instead of Supplying Them

If your team members frequently to you for answers they should know or could find themselves, they are delegating upwards. To turn it around… Casey's eTip: Ask for Solutions Instead of Supplying Them Ask them how they would handle the situation if you were not around. If it's a good…
eTips
June 18, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Delegate with Specificity

Delegating is hard and holding people accountable even harder. Here's one way to make both easier… Casey's eTip: Delegate with Specificity Force yourself to be specific… *Give the due date and maybe time, e.g., by EOB Wednesday (it's not demanding; it helps people prioritize) *Give a sense of the finished…
eTips
June 11, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Breathe While Checking Inboxes

They've finally done a (not very) scientific study of a phenomena I've been observing in my clients for years. Here's what I tell them (and now you!)... Casey's eTip: Breathe While Checking Inboxes A former IT executive has coined the term "screen apnea" to describe the common phenomena of holding…
eTips
June 4, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Ask 5 Questions to Run Effective Meetings

Meandering, pointless meetings waste time and so much money. To avoid this pitfall… Casey's eTip: Ask 5 Questions to Run Effective Meetings Here are the five questions to ask at the beginning of each meeting, whether it consists of two people or thirty. They form the acronym TOSCA™. Ask (and…
eTips
May 26, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Do One Thing at a Time

Multi-tasking makes your productivity decline and your mistakes increase. Research shows that doing two tasks simultaneously or switching rapidly between them can steal up to 40 percent of your productive time. The solution? Casey's eTip: Do One Thing at a Time Complete one activity before you start the next. The…
eTips
May 22, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Stop and Listen to Your Needs

Self-care is an important component of sustainably high productivity. It begins when you… Casey's eTip: Stop and Listen to Your Needs Effective self-care occurs through small acts in the present moment throughout each day. I invite you to pause now, tune in to your body and ask yourself "What do…
eTips
May 14, 2024

Casey’s eTip: Set Your Timer for Five Minutes

Some tasks can be difficult to begin. They may evoke uncertainty, anxiety, dismay and even dread. It helps to… Casey's eTip: Set Your Timer for Five Minutes Promise yourself that you'll do what you can for five minutes and then you get to stop and call it a win. Repeat…