We've read it everyday: Times are tough. We read it from home. We've felt it. It can be hard to work everyday at the full capacity you're used to. You could feel that a global pandemic is impossible, that it shouldn't be able to happen in this day and age. That it's all unfair. If you have felt any of these feelings, then this article is for you. The articles I've read about handling the personal challenges of quarantine have mainly talked about "what" you can do. Some people may read about...

Hi there. Today is my first day of medical leave. It might not be a medical leave you normally expect, and that's why I decided to write about it. I'm on medical leave for depression and anxiety. I'm sharing this with you for the small chance it helps destigmatize mental health issues. And because I believe in radical transparency. If you're not familiar with the term, Ray Dalio has popularized it by explaining how his hedge fund uses it to operate: "When I say I believe in radical truth and ...

Have some respect for yourselfIf your phone vibrates or dings or yells at you, what do you do? Do you check it immediately?Now how often is what you received more important than what you were already doing? Is it important enough that you're willing to lose about 25 minutes on the task at hand? Research from Gloria Mark at the University of California Irvine shows that that is the average amount of time it takes to get back to tasks after being distracted.Every notification comes in as an urgent...

If you have thoughts in your head instead of collected somewhere you trust yourself to check then they will bother you while trying to get work done. You'll want to use the first step of the getting things done (GTD) framework. It's worth learning the whole system eventually but I recommend people just start with the first step. It has a huge immediate payoff in terms of stress and productivity. It's also a lot easier to implement one step than five at a time. Capture is that first step. Take ...

Why track information? I love tracking things because I hate forgetting something. And I'm really good at forgetting things. There's two different types of tracking. I've labeled what I use them for in their descriptions, however, try them and see what you like to use them for. Capture - Tracking things for me to revisit later Remember - Tracking things to remember what I've already done Anyways, here's a list of my favorite tools for tracking information. Note: If available, links take ...