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 19, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Get a Diagnostic Assessment

Does your life history, especially your childhood/school days, suggest that you have ADHD, dyslexia or developmental coordination disorder (DCD)? Do you believe that you are currently experiencing depression, anxiety or OCD? If you wonder, you might… Casey's eTip: Get a Diagnostic Assessment If you suspect that you have a brain-based…
eTips
September 12, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Respond Skillfully with Emotions

Timing matters when it comes to speaking up for ourselves about an injustice or boundary-crossing at work or elsewhere. Speak too soon and a tsunami of emotions can damage our relationships with others. Wait too long and the energy and urgency dissipate so we don't say what we need to…
eTips
September 5, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Own Your Emotions

Years of working with clients has shown me the surprisingly large impact of resentment and blame on people's performance. It's the not-so-silent productivity killer. Here's one way to stop the drain on your time and energy... Casey's eTip: Own Your Emotions Owning your emotions begins with understanding them. When we…
eTips
August 29, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Connect Face-to-Face, Especially in the Beginning

In the age of automation and digital communication, face-to-face meetings still matter. Even one encounter where both parties can see each other as human eases future digital exchanges, as old research* shows. Casey's eTip: Connect Face-to-Face, Especially in the Beginning Observing how people move, carry themselves and make eye contact…
eTips
August 22, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Engage Fully to Function Optimally

"This is the real secret of life--to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play." These are the words of writer/philosopher Alan Watts, urging you to... Casey's eTip: Engage Fully to Be Function Optimally When…
eTips
August 15, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Empower Yourself to Handle Power Outages

Summer heat and AC overuse can result in storms that knock out your power. To stay productive, be prepared. Casey's eTip: Empower Yourself to Handle Power Outages This Wirecutter article offers a useful list of suggested tools that can keep your equipment safe and functioning. It also helps to create…
eTips
August 8, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Believe It and It Will Be True

Some research found that willpower was finite, wearing out by the end of the time. Later studies revealed that believing willpower runs out led to people giving up compared to those who thought willpower was unlimited, who endured. The moral? Casey's eTip: Believe It and It Will Be True Our…
eTips
July 25, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Consider Using a Digital Notepad

Do you like taking handwritten notes but need the information in the notes to be digitized and accessible to others? Then… Casey's eTip: Consider Using a Digital Notepad These handy devices are like high-tech etch-a-sketches: They are slim, light and highly portable. You save what you've written to the cloud.…
eTips
July 18, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Take Time Off and Reap Rewards

Some people dread returning from vacation so much that they don't take time off. But it's worth it (and not only because a study of 13,000 heart patients slashed their risk of death from heart disease by 29% and from any cause by 17%)… Casey's eTip: Take Time Off and…
eTipsNews
July 12, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Think Begin Rather than Finish

After working with clients for over 20 years, I have observed that to-do items such as "finish report" and "send email" are often doomed to be ignored until the 11th hour, even when they appear as the subject line on a scheduled block of time. Clients have shown me that…
eTipsNews
July 4, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Free Yourself from the Tyranny of Shoulds

Albert Ellis, the 20th century psychologist who developed Rational Emotive Behavior Theory, famously advised people not to should on themselves. And so, in a nod to Independence Day, I too encourage you to… Casey's eTip: Free Yourself from the Tyranny of Shoulds Often we bend our behavior to follow shoulds…
eTipsNews
June 27, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Don’t Let the Good Keep You from Your Best

"Keep in mind that you are always saying 'no' to something. If it isn't to the apparent, urgent things in your life, it is probably to the more fundamental, highly important things." So… Casey's eTip: Don't Let the Good Keep You from Your Best That quote is courtesy of Stephen…
eTipsNews
June 20, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Find the Pre-Task to Overcome Technical Procrastination

You may have items on your to-do list that linger. Before you call yourself a "procrastinator" with all the loaded connocations entailed, stop! There may be a simple fix... Casey's eTip: Find the Pre-Task to Overcome Technical Procrastination People perceive "procrastinating" as a character issue or even identity. Many times…
eTipsNews
June 13, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Use New Habits to Support (Not “Fix”) Yourself

Whether you embrace it or avoid it, changing your thoughts and behaviors is difficult. The first obstacle is biology: our bodies seek to conserve energy and maintain homeostasis. Change requires lots of energy and upsets the status quo. The second obstacle is mental and spiritual: our healthy inner selves rebel…
eTips
June 6, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Engage in Some Small Talk (Seriously!)

The busy-ness engendered by our workloads (both paid and unpaid/personal) can often lead to a sense of isolation and even loneliness. Here's one way to support your own wellbeing (and therefore your productivity)… Casey's eTip: Engage in Some Small Talk (Seriously!) Research suggests that having "relational diversity" (connections of various…
eTips
May 30, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Change Your Expectations to Improve Your Experience

You've got an hour between meetings to work on a specific task. But you don't. You go to the bathroom, get some coffee, check your messages and then maybe you try to start. Or not. What's wrong with you? Nothing. Maybe your expectations aren't realistic and they're getting in your…
eTipsNews
May 23, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Decide First Things First

This idea is from ADHD expert Susan Lasky and it applies to all humans. When we make major decisions, such as whether to find a new job, open a new line of business, etc., it's easy to complicate the process by considering details prematurely. Instead… Casey's eTip: Decide First Things…
eTips
May 16, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Keep People Informed

The volume and velocity of work and our focus on completion can make us forget to update people on progress and especially the lack thereof. These people include coworkers, clients, direct-reports and even family and friends. Instead… Casey's eTip: Keep People Informed Everyone wants results, yes, but more than that…
eTips
May 9, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Supercharge Your Accountability through Body-Doubling

One way to prioritize tasks and create accountability for them is to commit to another person to complete them by a certain deadline. Such promises help but can still lead to last-minute fire drills. Here’s a way to ensure you make time to do a task well before it’s due……
eTips
May 2, 2023

Casey’s eTip: Find Your Energy Sweet Spot

The Yerkes-Dodson Law holds that there is an optimal level of energy or excitement that produces high performance. You, too, can… Casey's eTip: Find Your Energy Sweet Spot It's so obvious you might miss the implication that you can leverage this law: Too little energy and your performance suffers. Too…