You probably know that your body will be healthier if you eat supportively, avoiding processed food. Similarly, you need to… Casey's eTip: Protect Your Brain from Unhealthy Content As this powerful essay from Dr. Cal Newport of Georgetown University (author of Deep Work) explains, our attention spans and critical thinking…

Activation--getting started--is often the biggest obstacle to moving forward with a project. Here's the solution… Casey's eTip: Take One Tiny Action The saying "A job begun is a job half done" is wise and research-backed. Taking a small, seemingly insignificant step gets the ball rolling. After a few such actions,…

Here's a tip from Apple that ensures clarity about direction and responsibility… Casey's eTip: Assign a DRI for All Projects DRI stands for Directly Responsible Individual. A clearly-defined leader reduces confusion and jockeying for position and the wasted time these behaviors cause. Assigning DRIs also reveals who is up for…

Staying an informed member of society means encountering bad news on a regular basis. To stay healthy mentally, it helps to… Casey's eTip: Lighten Your Mood Regularly To find some research-based methods (I've read some of the studies), you can read this graphic-novel-esque article from NPR. Here are just a…

Where do you stand with your personal and professional goals for the year? Do you remember what they were? It helps to… Casey's eTip: Check in with Your Goals Often Enough The check in can be as simple having them pop-up on your calendar every couple weeks, or re-writing them…

Wait! Don't dismiss this eTip, thinking it doesn't apply to you. Everyone has blind spots, so take some time to... Casey's eTip: Consider Whether You're the Problem Even articulate, typically-kind and "good" people can be difficult to deal with when conflict or dissension arises. Here are some signs that you…

If you're planning to change a process at work (or at home), it's important to… Casey's eTip: Get Input from Those Affected by Change Involve the stakeholders at the start of the planning process and during implementation. Take their preferences and feedback seriously. Many good ideas fail because the people…

Anger is a powerful, useful emotion that can get us into terrible trouble when mishandled, so… Casey's eTip: Treat Your Anger with Careful Calm Anger is an energizing mental and emotional state. It alerts us when something important to us has been damaged or is under threat. That's helpful information.…

"The essence of time management is doing fewer things of greater importance in the time we have," writes Harold Taylor in Making Time Work for You (p. 22), so... Casey's eTip: Do Less to Function Higher and Enjoy More As Taylor also notes (p. 16), "Time is increments of life."…

Delegating requires you to trust others to do what matters. As difficult as it is, you must… Casey's eTip: Delegate Authority, Not Just Responsibility Without granting your team (or family member!) the autonomy and authority to make decisions, you set them up to fail (or, at minimum, feel deeply frustrated).…

Here's an acronym from Harold Taylor to help you remember some delegation best practices... Casey's eTip: DELEGATE Harold's Way The acronym words are Harold's (Making Time Work for You, p. 229) but I use my words for the quick explanations... D: Delegate to all employees, not just your best ones…

People talk about procrastination, but rarely does it get clearly defined. It needs to be so you can… Casey's eTip: Determine Whether You Are Procrastinating or Planning "Procrastination is really the intentional and habitual postponement of some important task that should be done now," writes Harold Taylor in Making Time…

"hose who don't plan are at the mercy of those who do," writes Harold Taylor in Making Time Work for You (p. 62). Casey's eTip: Make Plans So You Live Your Life, Not Someone Else's If that someone is a life partner who shares your interests and goals, then that's…

"That which can be done at any time will be done at no time," goes the saying. Scheduling is the only way to "make time" for what matters, so… Casey's eTip: Plan Your To-Do's on Your Calendar Any task that takes an hour or more belongs at a specific time…

Technology, emails, meetings and drop-by interruptions often get blamed as the worst time wasters, but most time-wasting is self-inflicted. Maybe it's time to… Casey's eTip: Become Aware of Your Time Wasters "The biggest time wasters are self-imposed, such as procrastination, making mental notes , interrupting ourselves, searching for things, perfectionism,…

Here's another great idea from Harold Taylor (Making Time Work for You)… Casey's eTip: Create Your Own Scheduling Policy It's a guide for scheduling activities. It won't work all the time but it can most of the time. Consider factors like: * when your best brain time is (use that…

Spring is a wonderful season to release clutter so you can see what matters. It's time to… Casey's eTip: Let Go of Things You Don't Use According to Harold Taylor, a Canadian time management guru and a lovely, generous man, "A packrat is not someone who keeps things that are…

Do you labor under the mistaken belief that you probably aren't as productive as you "should" be? Such chronic low-grade self-disappointment saps energy. To shift it… Casey's eTip: Pretend Your Approach to Work Is Celebrated Imagine that you're the featured subject of an HRB.com or Inc.com article. Instead of apologizing…

It's so easy to fall prey to confirmation bias--seeking information in the world (including from other people) that aligns with our current thinking about an upcoming decision. That's why we need to consciously and carefully… Casey's eTip: Minimize Confirmation Bias When Making Decisions Here are some strategies you could try…