Thoughts of the Week: February 16, 2024

Make sure your schedule isn’t dulling your effectiveness.

In the hustle of life, it’s common for many to have periods of overwhelm. This is especially true when the whole day is back-to-back meetings, a series of fires, and at the end of the day…you realize you essentially got nothing done. You didn’t get to think, to strategize, or even to really planfully prioritize. When don’t have the ability to think, and your work has to wait until the rest of the workday ends — these habits will dull your effectiveness over time.

A helpful practice? Build gaps & blocks into your schedule.

Leave spaces between back-to-back meetings - jot down your thoughts, walk around the building, think, or move. Build in time blocks just to think or strategize. These gaps might feel like a waste of time, but – instead of viewing them as “dead space” — recognize and use them for what they can really be: an accelerator. These small moments push progress. 

Time alone in your own head doesn’t just help you line up your headspace for what comes next, but it also helps you see the playing field — and better connect the dots — so you can take better control of the future, and be one step ahead in the game ahead. 

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1. Don’t let other people’s problems become yours.

2. Ignore what everyone else says and keep running forward.

3. An enlightening graphic from @researchdoodles on the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation — and the unstoppable force that comes from an internal drive.

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