How to stretch your sense of time
It may sound incredible, but making time for others can make you feel less stressed about time. Sounds counterintuitive, right? When you feel like you have too much to do and too little time to do it, you probably limit your activities. I know feeling pressed for time can make me cut back on seeing friends,...
Quitting the pecking order
Some chickens produce more eggs than others. Super chickens produce the most eggs. In one study, super chickens distinguished themselves by pecking the others to death. It seems the individually successful chickens achieved their success by suppressing the productivity of the rest. According to Margaret Heffernan, who describes this for Ted Radio Hour, people who...
Work habits of the creative class
Rene Descartes, the French philosopher, slept 10 hours a night. He would wake mid-morning, linger in bed thinking and writing. By 11:00 a.m., he was usually done with work for the day. Unlike many other creatives, he believed idleness was important for good mental work. It’s a position I endorse. Apparently he made sure never...
The route to Car Talk
Tom Magliozzi, 77, was a co-host of one of my favorite public radio shows, “Car Talk.” He died this week. He was known for his infectious laugh and his ability to suss out the real issues—sometimes related to relationships or moral quandaries—that brought callers to his show. I think parts of his life story may...
Can’t we all just slow down?
This summer, time has been on my mind. Or rather, the lack of it nipped at my heels. At my day job, I never seemed to have enough of it. Days quickly melted into nights. My reasoning desperately sought to squeeze more work time out of the day, despite diminishing marginal returns. If I left work 15...
How to acquire charisma
It may sound strange to say, but charisma can be learned. At least that’s what Olivia Fox Cabane says. She’s the author of the book, The Charisma Myth: How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism. Charisma, she notes, can determine whether: 1) your projects get implemented, 2) your ideas get adopted,...
Where willpower and fatigue intersect
One month into the new year might be time to revisit those new year’s resolutions. How are they working for you? If, like me, you’re not thrilled with your performance so far, it could be you’re pushing yourself too hard, trying to do too much at once. I recently watched an interesting talk on will...
Bach’s compromise
Compromises can make great work possible. I know that sounds counterintuitive. But it seems to have worked for Johann Sebastian Bach, who could not rely solely on composing to keep himself afloat. At one point, he had to choose between a court appointment and a post as a church organist and music master. Each had...
Letting go of what holds us back
An energy within each of us is looking for a way to express itself. So says John Murphy, author of Zentrepreneur and a business consultant based in Grand Rapids, Mich. Yet some people think that Bill Gates or Steve Jobs or Thomas Edison or their favorite change agents are real entrepreneurs, but that they are...
One FT job resembles a basket of eggs
Someone got canned at work. Or at least, I think that’s what happened. It was choreographed better than the Bolshoi. The person sent an email to her staff at the end of a day. But seriously, who really would rather quit work to spend time with their kids? That surely is more harrowing and exhausting...
How to reboot
People are increasingly questioning their life choices. Workers wonder whether they’re killing themselves doing work they don’t really want. Shouldn’t they be doing something more meaningful? Priya Parker, founder and researcher at Thrive Labs, a company that helps millennials identify their real purpose in life, has noticed that many of her clients let fear guide...
A picture book illustrator’s beginnings
The paths people take to find the work they love always interest me. Sometimes what may not have been all that much fun early in a career turns out in retrospect to be valuable training for what comes later. Jon Klassen, an animator who is best known as the author and illustrator of the picture...