All of us have had the experience where we want to accomplish something but regardless of what we try, we don’t make the progress that we’re looking for. Call it the proverbial, “spinning my tires in the mud”, or “beating my head against the wall”. There’s a problem or challenge we want to overcome, and … Continue reading What I do when I feel like I’m spinning my tires in the mud
My system for managing overwhelm, anxiety, and stress when work is too difficult
One of my biggest problems in my work life is perpetually biting off more than I can chew. Agreeing to things that I shouldn’t be doing, and then in doing so, creating far too much work for myself. The problem with this is often that I underestimate how long something will take me, or how … Continue reading My system for managing overwhelm, anxiety, and stress when work is too difficult
How I maintain productivity when I’m bored at work and can’t focus
When I was a child I was diagnosed with ADHD. The doctors told me that I couldn’t focus and that I was a “hyperactive” child. As a teenager they tried to give me adderall and it turned me into a zombie. I hated it. Felt like it stripped me of my personality. Needless to say … Continue reading How I maintain productivity when I’m bored at work and can’t focus
How I use “triggers” at work to improve focus, memory, and learning
What “triggers” a flow state for you? Is it nature? Exercise? A specific activity like writing or a physical sport? Music? All of these stacked together at once?! If you want to get into flow states on a reliable and consistent basis, an important aspect of this is learning what gets you INTO flow in … Continue reading How I use “triggers” at work to improve focus, memory, and learning
How I structure and sequence my day for flow states and peak performance
My journey into flow states started around 2016 when I first discovered the world of Tim Ferriss while running my startup company (but it really started a lot earlier than that). He was the guy who pointed me in the direction of people like Josh Waitzkin, who talks about Flow in the Art of Learning, … Continue reading How I structure and sequence my day for flow states and peak performance
How to Improve Learning Speed Up To 500%
One of the most important skills that we can learn in life, is the ability to be a better learner. To, quite simply, learn how to learn faster. We’re in the process of a technological revolution that has changed our access to information, and thus our ability to learn new material - and learn it … Continue reading How to Improve Learning Speed Up To 500%
A decision of one is never a good decision
I’ve recently implemented a mantra for my decision making process - “a decision of one is never a good decision.” What does this mean? If you only have one option, your decision is fucked to begin with. If you only have one option, one thing to choose from, there is too much weight on that … Continue reading A decision of one is never a good decision
Not Everyone Is Motivated by Money
Towards the later days of BrainGain, shortly before I ultimately moved on, I learned an important lesson about motivation...and how it’s different for everyone. While many of us believe that money is the sole motivator in life, from my experience I have seen that it’s actually quite the opposite - Money is the easy low … Continue reading Not Everyone Is Motivated by Money
How to encourage inclusion and ideation at work
While running BrainGain I liked to have monthly “State of the Union” style meetings to have a comprehensive overview of what we accomplished throughout the month. These meetings often went well for the most part, but there was a key ingredient missing. Ideation. I found that my teammates just didn’t have ideas to contribute. OR, … Continue reading How to encourage inclusion and ideation at work
Controlled Confrontation – The art of handling difficult conversations
The vast majority of people I meet are averse to confrontation. They fear an argument. They avoid it with all of their willpower. People often look at arguments and confrontations as a BAD thing. If people are arguing, something is wrong. And for good reason - who wants to spend their day locked in heated … Continue reading Controlled Confrontation – The art of handling difficult conversations