I’ve come to believe that most people have given up on improving how they deal with their email. They have come to treat it like a trip to the dentist… a necessary evil. I also believe, however, that if you want to have greater impact in your work day, you MUST address the significant amount of time you are spending buried in a pile of messages. Depending on which study you read, employees spend about two hours per day on email.

Time blindness, also known as temporal disorientation, is a cognitive condition that affects one's ability to accurately perceive the passing of time and estimate how long tasks or activities will take. Although it is not considered a diagnosable medical condition, it poses challenges in terms of punctuality and planning. Individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are particularly susceptible to experiencing time blindness as well as those who may be grieving, stressed or sleep-deprived.

Today, I found myself outside, indulging in one of my absolute favorite activities — picking blueberries. It’s a time when I can truly escape and become immersed in deep thoughts, self-reflection, and the invigorating sensation of breathing in fresh air. However, I must admit, there are moments when I can get carried away and lose track of time, neglecting other important tasks. As a result, I often find myself grappling with a sense of guilt afterwards.

I don't know about you, but the workday after a holiday has always felt a little disjointed to me. On one hand we should be ready to take on the world after an extra day or two of rest from work, but on the other hand, I find myself longing for more of that personal or family time that I got during the day off. If I'm not careful, I can find myself meandering through my day and not getting anything of real value accomplished.

One of the words I am certain you have already used multiple times in 2019 is busy. It’s become the default phrase for explaining many of the mistakes we make in our day. In fact, we use the word as a blanket statement to describe life in general (i.e. “Everyone is just so busy these days!”).

I am going on record today to suggest that we are using the wrong word.

The question seemed like such a simple one. I asked a group of senior leaders in an organization how they would invest 100 hours of their time over the next two weeks if all of their day-to-day responsibilities were removed from them. They could only focus on activities that would move the organization forward. I additionally asked them to break down the 100 hours by project or goal. Easy, right?

Yes, I meant to type "inciteful" and not "insightful." A recent blog by Seth Godin has completely changed my attitude about how I look at what I might read. One of the questions I now ask about a "good book" someone mentions to me is, "How did you change behavior as a result of reading the book?"

How often do you spend some time in deep reflection about who you are and where you want to go? A time of sacred idleness when you let those deeper thoughts that have been suppressed by a crazy busy schedule bubble to the surface. Moments when you pay attention to your feelings, questions, frustrations, hopes, and dreams.

If you're like many people, your answer is "rarely."

It seems like there is always a desire to describe the essence of a concept, philosophy, movement, culture, or societal ill as succinctly as possible. In our sound-byte driven world, having just the right catchphrase for one of the afore-mentioned situations gets attention from others. “Knowledge worker,” “millennials,” “#metoo” and the “experience economy” are four that quickly come to mind.

Sometimes, however, these phrases don’t work as well.

One of the reasons for this lack of productivity is the sheer number of distractions and crises vying for our attention each day. These items keep us moving, but not necessarily in a forward direction. But might there be other circumstances causing us to feel so overwhelmed with all we have to do and underwhelmed at what we are actually getting done?

While sitting with my daughter Sydney at a recent violin lesson, I watched her struggle to get the rhythm right with one particular piece. Her teacher was so patient and helped her understand how the rhythm of the piece should be played by focusing on a few measures at a time. Then, when they played the whole piece together with different rhythms, it sounded amazing! (from a proud dad's perspective).

The experience reminded me of how important...

I know, I know. No one likes ticks. I can't remember the last time I was sharing a meal with a friend and they said, "You know, I was just thinking about ticks." Like mosquitoes and the IRS, we want to avoid contact with them at all costs. However, if you work outside in the summer months in various parts of the country, staying alert to their potential presence on your clothes or skin is essential to maintaining good health.

Read any number of books on how to be successful, and at some point, the author will mention the impact some habit or routine had on their upward professional or personal trajectory. Lots of books have even been written on the topic of routines, and my personal favorite is The Slight Edge.

Over the years I've found that a key to making a routine stick is

While time management is the phrase we use when talking about our desire to be more productive or to be able to get the right things done, time itself is rarely the limiting factor. There are just too many examples of people who accomplish an incredible number of tasks each day and also live a personally fulfilling life. What makes the difference?

Last week I was interviewed by a NY Times writer for an article entitled, Keep Your Apple Picking Plans. The essence of the article was about why people keep or abandon plans for leisure time. They had actually interviewed some individuals about their plans a few months ago and followed up to see if they kept their plans. Some did while some didn't.

"When I open my email I feel like I'm headed to the dentist, and I hate going to the dentist," the person on the other end of the phone kept saying. I was working with a client who was really struggling with their email management. They had let things get out so out of control that they were rarely checking email at work, opting to spend one to two hours in the evening handling their email. And yes, it was putting quite a strain on their relationship with their family and their own personal renewal time.

Think of all the things you have put off recently. Calling someone to catch up. Working on a big task that seems overwhelming. Scheduling some time for yourself in your week. It seems like we have so conditioned ourselves that there will be time later for such things.

This past weekend I was reminded of the need to think in terms of "one chance."

Focus. It seems like I hear so many people talking about needing to do it... but rarely taking the steps to create an environment where their physical and mental energy can be aligned with their most important work. Some argue that it's their coworkers fault, or they have to be available to their boss, or they have to leave their email notifications on in case of an emergency... the list goes on and on.

You’re probably nodding at your screen right now, saying, “Yes! That’s my world.” I think it is for all of us. Just like we are prone to eat too much, we easily allow ourselves to intake too much information.