We’ve all been there. Ruts are no fun. In fact, they can be downright nasty, exacting heavy tolls on our productivity, health, and morale. They can be our biggest obstacle towards achieving our goals. While it can be easy to blame outside circumstances, the fact is it’s usually a reflection of our own occasionally skewed…
As a busy professional, putting out fires, conquering evil doers and making the world a better place is all in a day’s work for you. While this unfailing commitment to working on your company’s success is virtuous, it’s kind of a pity because you could add so much more depth and creativity with a mere…
Passion is something I usually encourage people to develop further. Seeing people engage with their work on such a deep level can be a beautiful thing to observe and experience. However, there can be a dark side. Executives and leaders can be notoriously zealous about their work, so much so that they are driven to…
It seems almost counter-intuitive. Routine is usually associated with boredom. In reality though, an underlay of routine in your day will spark your creativity muscle. Having routines can help offset the anxiety and fear that often accompanies the uncertainty of the creative process. Routines, or ‘rituals’, as Jonathon Fields writes, can serve as “certainty anchors.”…
Picture this. You have a micro managing boss and it seems that the rules are changing all the time. You have little choice over whether or not you can work from home to finish that report or pop out early if you need to. On top of this you are assigned one of the company’s…
I continue to scratch my head on this one. The internet is rife with books, studies and opinion pieces as to why innovators and creative thinkers are central to business success. One need look no further than the landslide of commentary about Steve Jobs. Visionary, risk taker, game changer, etc. So why is it then…
Have you ever been frustrated waiting for a decision from your boss? Once in a while, it’s OK right? Everyone gets annoyingly behind now and then. It’s pretty much impossible to stay on top of everything all the time. We all know that. But when your boss’s indecisiveness is a pattern, it’s a completely different…
Are you easily distracted? If you are like many (and myself) keeping a tight focus on the task at hand can be a challenge. Oh look, a bright shiny object… In his research on mind-wandering, Matthew Killingsworth shows how losing focus on the job reduces both happiness and productivity. In fact, it appears that about…
The pace has all of a sudden advanced to light speed. Your ‘to do’ pile just doesn’t seem to be shrinking fast enough. Yet more work comes your way. Fun right? Thought not. But what can you do about it? Like many others, I start each day with my to-do list. It’s difficult sticking to…
You have a passion for your work. You are driven to do give your best. You love the challenge of new problems and strive for continuous improvement of your products and services. Well, what happens when that type of drive and ambition is no longer valued at your job? Do you tough it out? Given…