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Productivity = focus + prioritization
Today, I had dozens of pending tasks. So here is what I did. I just picked one task that really mattered. I dropped everything else, started my timer, and did 10 focus sprints of 25 minutes. By around 5:30 pm, the task was done. No sweat, no...
Recent Posts
Why jaw-drops don’t happen in consulting
After my MBA, when I joined consulting, I imagined that we would solve complex business problems, and finally, when we presented our solutions to...
The cost of addiction
Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist and the author of 'Dopamine Nation,' said that the most bizarre addiction she had come across was, shockingly, 'water...
Pause before you respond
I once had this habit of responding to any question a nanosecond after the person stopped speaking (or sometimes, even before that). Maybe, I was...
Just play your cards well
Think of someone you really, really envy. It could be anyone -- a billionaire, a film star, a Nobel laureate, or even a Buddhist monk. Have you...
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The trap of external validation
I know an ex-civil servant, who joined three political parties with diametrically opposite ideologies, to end up in one of the highest positions in government. So why do people do that? Do their political convictions change so fast? Are they so...
Stop planning, start doing
I have seen people adopt two distinct approaches when they want to start meditating: Approach 1: Sit down and meditate. Approach 2: Research lots and lots of meditation techniques (and do nothing). In fact, this holds for everything in life. If you...
Tips to regulate social media usage
You don't have to quit all social media, though some people I admire (e.g., Cal Newport) are big proponents of that. In the last few years, almost all my new friends, running buddies, and connections have come from LinkedIn. Without that, I would...
It is too late when we decide it is too late
When is it too late to start something? Today, I came across this guy called Lew Hollander, who At 82, finished the Hawaii Ironman and held that world record for a while. He has run more than 100 ultramarathons and extreme events. Today, at 94, Lew...