As a thought leader, what level of importance would you put on making time for strategic thinking during the day? It’s very easy to put our deep thinking time on the back burner because of meetings and busy work. That’s never been more true than today with endless pings, rings, and distractions. However, productivity experts have been assessing this problem for decades.
Whether the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in your well-oiled exercise routine or you lacked a routine to begin with, one thing is certain: with gyms closed and more work and family demands on your plate than ever before, fitting exercise into your daily schedule has become yet another impossible chore. You know it’s important but even when you have the time, the idea of continuing to stare into your laptop screen for a 30-minute exercise class after a long day of working from home is… less than appealing. The good news is: home work-out videos and online exercise classes aren’t your only options for staying fit.
So you finally made it to bed. You’ve done your bedtime routine and you’ve turned off all the lights. You’re exhausted, fully prepared for sleep, but your mind just won’t stop racing — overwhelmed with thoughts, feelings, and to-dos. The longer it takes you to fall asleep, the more anxious and stressed out you become which, in turn, makes it even harder for you to drift off to sleep. Once your head hits the pillow, how do you actually relax into a peaceful slumber so that you receive the full benefit of a restful night? Here are a few ways to clear your head and surrender yourself to the pleasures of sleep…
Typically speaking, parents put a lot of pressure on themselves to make time for their children. Now, it seems we spend a lot of time strategizing how to get away from them! Early-quarantine offered us a seemingly once-in-a-lifetime chance to spend quality time with our kids. Four months in, the quantity of time has turned the quality of time to mush. We still yearn to have meaningful interactions with our kids, but how do we restore the quality of our connections when we are feeling so burnt out?
Sleep is a fundamental component of our lives. It allows us to reset, recharge, and refuel, so that we can make the most of our days. Unfortunately, with so much weighing on our minds, the last few months have thrown many of us off our sleep game. Because sleep is such a critical aspect of our mental and physical health, now is just as good a time as any to get serious about the quantity and quality of our restful hours. And the best place to start is by renovating your bedtime routine.
Most parents “get” the need to spend time playing with their kids, but more often than not, we’re left standing on the sidelines (or collapsed on the couch), watching our kids laugh and play, while we struggle to find an in. While, of course, kids need to play with other kids as well as on their own (i.e. we don’t need to be involved all the time); playing with parents is a great way for your child to bond with you, in their world, on their terms. Understanding the importance of play, as well as a few simple strategies for getting involved in the action, ultimately makes it easier for us to find the time and energy to get in the game. So what’s a parent to do? Here’s what the experts recommend…
You’re staring down the barrel of a seemingly endless to-do list. You know it’s time to get started, but where? Do you start with the smallest task or the largest task? The task you like most or the one you like least? The important one for yourself, or the urgent one for someone else? When it comes to prioritizing our to-dos, most of us tend to approach the situation with some degree of subjectivity. But this line of thinking often leaves us totally paralyzed — hovering over our to-do lists for who knows how long, trying to decide where to get started. The key, therefore, is to become as objective as possible when choosing which tasks to prioritize. That’s where the 3 Qs (The Three Questions) come in…
As you reflect on your experiences with homeschooling — whether you feel like you knocked it out of the park or it knocked you on your butt — consider that formal schooling is but one of many ways that we raise our children to be successful adults. And the good news is, some of the best teaching we do is incorporated into our everyday interactions with our children — no additional time investment required. The three primary modes of teaching are…
The #1 time management question to ask yourself when approaching any task is, “How long is this going to take?” Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to dramatically under- or overestimate how long tasks take based on how we feel about them. In order to be effective at time estimating, you must take your feelings out of the equation. These two exercises can show you how.
