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Build routines around your life, not the other way around
The struggle around routines, motivation, and clarity on the direction one wants to take in life are real. But mindlessly mocking others isn’t going to help, even if your gurus have you convinced that success leaves clues. The proven way to accomplish any achievement is to understand oneself truly. Nothing more. Nothing less. Having a…
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We rise and fall to our systems, not habits
I might have spent the better part of the last decade researching and developing methodologies on personal, team, and workplace productivity. And what I’ve observed time and again is that productivity, at any level, has two aspects to it: intention and extension. Our intentions set a robust foundation for what we want to achieve in…
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Leverage the power of “yes” and “no” to focus
The most productive people understand the power of a good solid “no.” And they use it ruthlessly with their friends, colleagues, clients, and even family members. Because they know that saying “yes” to others can take up all their time and energy, preventing them from focusing on what matters the most. Time is a zero-sum…
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Routines are all about getting the non-urgent but important things done
At times, I feel that the habits and routines have become a spin-off of the self-help industry. The core belief being getting the morning (or evening, or both) right is all you need to be successful in life. I’ve been a “routines” person decades before it became a fad. And I can tell from experience…
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Habits vs routines vs commitments
I see people confusing habits with routines or, worse, commitments! Yes, they’re all interrelated but quite different from each other. Here’s a handy explanation that might help you understand the difference and prioritize what you need to work on right now. HabitsBehaviors that flow automatically and do not require a conscious effort. They’re often prompted…
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What makes it a struggle even after a thousand posts?
Writing is hard, particularly if you hate it. For some folks, like yours truly, it’s not the act of writing but the timing that makes it all hard. Allow me to explain this using three of the biggest reasons why I struggle with writing in 2020: My demanding schedule (work, side-projects, physical activities etc.) requires…
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Make it easy. Make it just work.
Besides being successful technology companies, what do Apple, Netflix, Zoom, and Amazon have in common? They’ve got the basics right, kept it simple, and they have always “just worked.” Period. But we know simple ain’t easy. It’s so damn hard to create something that seems easy. Yet, that’s exactly what these companies did to grow…
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Say it isn’t so
“Excellence” is among the few business philosophies the I’m deeply attached with. And I honestly believe “excellence” can be achieved in everything little thing that one wants to do. The other day while discussing this over a Zoom call a friend called out on me saying, “my blog posts though sensible sometimes have typos and…
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On routines… yet again!
I’ve written about routines countless times and I think it all led up to 2020, “the year when earth quarantined itself.” (That’s one heck of a dramatic headline, no?) I’ll be honest, I would be in a hospital for mental treatment if it weren’t for the habits and routines I’d invested so much time to…
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Aggregation of marginal gains
I’m a fan of James Clear’s work. I read almost every post that he puts out (twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays) and have gifted his latest book Atomic Habits half a dozen times to some of my close friends already. While going through my YouTube feeds last night, I bumped into this keynote…