Written By Paula Pant
It’s an old familiar hum:
Every January, we kickoff the calendar year with New Years Resolutions: lose 10 pounds, make smarter investments, create an extra $1,500 per month on the side.
Yet by February, we’ve returned to life as usual. The discarded New Years Resolution has become a tired cultural trope.
We blame ourselves […]
By Paula Pant
Billy Murphy says poker made him a millionaire …
But not in the way you might guess.
Billy, now a serial entrepreneur, says poker taught him probabilistic thinking. He learned how to analyze the likelihood of various outcomes. He learned when to double down and when to fold.
He achieved financial independence at age […]
Written By Paula Pant
You should see my Inbox after I’ve left it unchecked for a few days.
The sheer volume of crappy pitches, press releases, “check out my infographic” and “could you link to us?” requests would make your head explode.
I leave my Inbox untamed for 2-8 days stretches on a semi-regular basis, and when […]
By Paula Pant
There are five procrastination triggers, says author Stephen Guise:
Fun: We enjoy TV, video games, and anything else that’s easy. Fear: We’re afraid of failure, and therefore we avoid trying. Overwhelm: When the task ahead is daunting, we escape into distraction and avoidance. Brain Overheating: When our mental energy wanes, we’ll ‘zombie’ out with YouTube or social […]
Written By Paula Pant
It’s 6:30 a.m., and I’m watching the sunrise over downtown Las Vegas.
The streets are empty. The last revelers have disappeared from the sidewalks and rooftops they occupied a few hours ago.
Anyone else awake in this town has stayed up all night.
[…]
By Paula Pant
Your most valuable asset isn’t your house, car or retirement portfolio. It’s your attention.
Most knowledge workers spend their day frantically hopping between meetings, emails, phone calls and social media.
But that’s not the best way to stand out in the modern economy.
Emails are necessary, says author and professor Cal Newport. They’ll keep […]
By Paula Pant
“We are what we repeatedly do.” – Aristotle
Our successes in life and work are the result of the habits that we practice everyday.
Despite knowing the importance of these habits, though, we’re good at creating loopholes to excuse ourselves from the habits we want to practice.
In this episode with Gretchen Rubin, New […]
Written By Paula Pant
Imagine that you spend 45 hours per week at the office — 9 am to 6 pm.
You commute 30 minutes each way, leaving home at 8:30 am and returning home at 6:30 pm. You also spend 30 minutes each weekday morning “getting ready” — showering, dressing, brewing coffee.
You spend another 30 minutes […]
By Paula Pant
There are 168 hours in a week.
If you work 40 hours per week and sleep 8 hours per night (56 hours per week), you’ve accounted for 96 hours. You have an additional 72 waking hours per week.
What are you doing with this time?
Let’s assume you spend 10 hours per week commuting, […]
Written By Paula Pant
How many days have you felt like this?
You toss and turn all night. Wake up groggy. Curse at the alarm.
You stumble through a morning fog. You’re drowsy, even after two cups of coffee. You stare at the computer screen feeling overwhelmed and unfocused. You get sucked into Email Hell. You spend the rest of […]