Search Results for: oakley

Proven Strategies against Procrastination

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Etymologically, procrastination comes from the Latin word procrastinare, meaning “deferred till the morning” or “belonging to tomorrow “. Naturally, there is a better side of postponing work where we can use purposeful delaying of our work as a creative way to let ideas and concepts grow arms and legs. The difference between meaningful task delaying and procrastination is when a tomorrow to accomplish that specific work never quite arrives.  A common opinion is that procrastination is about poor time management skills or that procrastination is related …

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A Practical Framework to Create and Break Habits

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Habits are behaviours we repeat regularly or automatically. The good side of habits is that they can act as energy savers. We don’t focus on them while performing them. Take, for example, brushing teeth: we have to remind ourselves to be mindful of this action. Change your hand, and suddenly, brushing teeth becomes something novel and no longer a habitual activity. Imagine the mental load of getting ready in the morning if we hadn’t encoded each step of the morning schedule as a habit. …

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Mindful Work – Capturing, Prioritizing and Working on Tasks Effectively

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Part 1: Mindless Work Part 2: Mindful Work There are two main types of networks that the brain has, a highly attentive state network and a more relaxed resting-state network. In her book A mind for numbers, Barbara Oakley names the thinking processes related to the two main types of networks the focused mode and the diffuse mode.  The focused mode is associated with the concentrating abilities of the brain. Diffuse-mode thinking happens when we relax our concentration and let our minds wander: taking breaks, doing something that …

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Letters to my Daughter: Myths and Tips to Strategically Distinguish Between Careers and Passions

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My dear daughter, you are still so incredibly young. But no sooner than I catch my breath for one moment and puff, you will be quickly wondering: what should I do with my life? What job should I pursue? Should I follow my passion? After all, isn’t what they say “choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”?  No, my dear daughter, following your passion is terrible career advice. Focus instead on building rare and valuable …

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A Comprehensive Guide on Time Blocking

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Time blocking is a productivity method where we split each day into time blocks of variable length, from 20 – 30 minutes to 1 hour. In each block of time, we single-task and focus only on that specific task associated with the current time block, with no context-switching. Instead of managing to-do list items, we control the time when we can implement those specific items.  Benjamin Franklin, one of the early adopters of time blocking, used this technique to distribute hours for deep work, …

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Shoshin, the Zen Concept that Applies to Companies, Science and Personal Development

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“In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s, there are few.”  Zen master Shunryo Suzuki  In Zen Buddhism, “shoshin” translates as the “beginner’s mind”, where “sho” means beginning or origin, and “shin” means spirit, soul, or attitude.  A beginner’s mind is different from being a beginner. Shoshin is about having the attitude and mindset of a novice who learns a new practice for the first time, especially after reaching expert levels in our fields.    In the beginner’s mind, there is a lack of preconceptions, a willingness to learn, to ask and try, …

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