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Manage your energy, not just your time
Focus your life on doing things that make you feel a personal lift. I used to think that meant chasing excitement. The definition has expanded. For example, I’ve realized I feel a personal lift when I do things I used to avoid—whether it’s an ordinary task that makes me healthier, a task where I can…
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Five
Five ideas. Five items. Five original sentences. Three’s a trend, and a party, and five is—quantitatively—rowdier than that. Five is a movement, a celebration. For me, five brings a sense of confidence that something exists and is worth sharing. There’s a reason that top five is a thing. It’s one of the liberating rules of…
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5 ideas I will be practicing this year
Work with what you’ve got. Bonus points if you’re struggling. Nobody else can push your buttons, unless you let them. You can impress other people without trying to be impressive. Relax. Don’t let a misunderstanding blow up or distract you from your goals. The best way to get through a difficult moment is to be…
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Five books I’ve enjoyed recently
If you ever fall into a funk with reading—like I do!—it helps to find a book that is enjoyable, light, and easy to read. Here are some books I’ve enjoyed recently: I Deliver Parcels in Beijing: A working memoir of a man’s working life in China, told through dozens of odd jobs and gigs. Very…
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How I stretch my attention span
Keep my calendar clear of meetings. Focus on one project at a time. If that’s not possible, then focus on one task at a time. Try to keep tasks to one sitting. Spend a few minutes in the evening writing down the tasks that remain unfinished or the ones that came up. Don’t stress, and…
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Three early career plays
In my junior year at university, I really shifted focus toward finding a job. I knew it wasn’t going to be something that my school program took care of for me; it all fell on my shoulders. Along the way, I developed some plays that made a lot of impact for me. I wanted to…
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Publish once before making it perfect the second time
In American football, teams score when they reach the end zone and make a touchdown. It’s rare for a team to go straight for the touchdown right away, because the decision is risky; instead, the team approaches the touchdown through running and passing short distances. With each next checkpoint they make, they buy more regulation…
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Two lessons I learned writing something heavy
I discovered that, as I was writing yesterday’s post, two main imaginary barriers kept me from wanting to publish it in the first place: First, I didn’t get to say everything I wanted to say. Some pertinent details include my working full time at Lifehacker, being honest about the shame I experienced working as a…