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I wanted to talk about procrastination… I think that we have a fair amount of confusion about procrastination. One of the clear points I want to make is that procrastination is not some moral failing. It’s not some example of ‘lack of discipline’. I believe, in almost all cases, it’s actually a problem with our systems […]

How Do We Avoid Perfectionism and still Manage Quality?I did an episode on perfectionism recently. I argued that it is wasteful and thus should be eliminated. But, in some cases, it seems to be our only way to control quality. That is, our only quality target is perfection. If we eliminate it as a goal,

The lie:Perfection should be the underlying goal of your work Or (rephrased) you should pursue ‘excellence’ in everything you do. The truth is that technical perfection is both unrealistic and unnecessary. Excellent is an undefined word.Intro to perfectionism:I’ve seen a lot lately on perfectionism. Kevin Miller, on his Self Helpful podcast, did a series on

Managing Oneself – Peter Drucker and the second quarter of the 21st century This episode covers the “smartest person you’ve probably never read”. Drucker foresaw the rise of Knowledge Work 60+ years ago. Not only did he define it for us, but he let us know that it would be the primary challenge of the

How did the Attention Compass come about? Why is it a thing now? Larry’s background through 2006 My career has been in IT management, so I understand something about tools, software, next generation technology. Throughout my career, I was always a productivity geek – Stephen Covey, David Allen, new tech, phone, etc During this time we

Think about attention management. About how we deal with our own ability to focus. That attention is primarily directed at the work we have to do. We need our full attention on our work, at least to the degree that our work is difficult and challenging. One of my clients asked me to organize from the

In this episode, I answer a question from my buddy and listener, Joel. He feels like he has “Squirrel Brain” and wonders how to get rid of it. So, I define “Squirrel Brain” and talk about tactics for Taming the Squirrel. I love your questions. Reach me at [email protected] or connect on LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/larrytribble. I’ll try

This is one of a set of posts on common misconceptions about productivity and work. I call them Lies About Productivity. I’ll address some ‘lie’ and suggest a new mindset that is helpful toward being effective, not exhausted – Do Busy Right. The Lie: You should equate working hard to being productive. Or that work

The lie here is that outputs divided by inputs is the right way to measure our productivity. I believe that we’re thinking about productivity in the wrong ways. Particularly when it comes to knowledge workers, we use similar thoughts and equations for knowledge worker productivity that we use for factory productivity or efficiency. I want to

In this episode, I answer a question from a listener named Adrian. She’s got a great new job with a somewhat smaller company and feeling some symptoms of a less-structured position. So, I’ll be talking primarily to folks that are in the same position as Adrienne or folks who want to be in that position.