Time and Attention

On this episode, we chat about ideas from Chris’s new book, How to Calm Your Mind! Topics covered include: How a calm mind can make us significantly more productive; How anxiety shrinks our cognitive performance; What calm actually is; How anxiety is a spectrum; How presence is the key to productivity, and how to find it; The “accomplishment mindset”; The various drafts of How to Calm Your Mind; How we need dopamine, and also how it can lead us astray; Our brain’s “acquisition mentality”; The three factors that influence the size of the dopamine hit we get from something; What “superstimuli” are and how they highjack our attention on a chemical level; How to balance time between the digital and analog worlds; The various types of chronic stress; The power science of “savoring” our lives. Links mentioned in this episode: Book: How to Calm Your Mind You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below!   The post Podcast: The Year of Calm appeared first on Chris Bailey.

On this episode, we chat about our favorite rituals to ring in the new year. Topics covered include: Whether we make New Year’s resolutions; The importance of reflection at New Year’s; How to think back to past accomplishments; Simple rituals to set goals for the year ahead; The productivity benefits of gratitude. Links mentioned in this episode: Article: Give these 3 new year’s rituals a try You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below! The post Podcast: Our New Year’s Rituals appeared first on Chris Bailey.

This episode was originally published on May 7, 2019. In this episode, I chat with David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done, about his book—and how we can carve out more space for having ideas. You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below! The post Podcast: My interview with David Allen, author of Getting Things Done appeared first on Chris Bailey.

On this episode, we chat about what burnout is and how to overcome it., Topics covered include: Our own experiences with burnout; The three characteristics of burnout; The stepping stones to burnout; The two types of stress we face throughout the day; Whether burnout is a primarily workplace phenomenon; The six factors of our work that contribute to burnout. Links mentioned in this episode: Book: How to Calm Your Mind The Maslach Burnout Inventory test (paid) You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below!   The post Podcast: Understanding burnout appeared first on Chris Bailey.

On this episode, we chat about our GTD-inspired weekly reviews—and what we include in them. Topics covered include: What a “weekly review” is; The steps to doing a weekly review; How flexible to be with your review; What we each review every week; Including an “accomplishments list” in the review; Working reflections into the weekly review; The weird way Chris manages his daily schedule; The confidence a weekly review can give you; The payoff of a weekly review over time.  Links mentioned in this episode: Book: Getting Things Done, by David Allen The GTD Weekly Review (PDF) You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below! The post Podcast: The Weekly Review appeared first on Chris Bailey.

On this episode, we chat about our favorite writing tips—including the ones we use every day. Topics covered include: How writing triggers procrastination; Giving yourself permission to not write well; How to track writing progress throughout long projects; The power of outlining (including when you don’t want to); Where “writer’s block” comes from; How great writing can be contagious (and how to take advantage of this). Links mentioned in this episode: Book: How to Calm Your Mind Book: On Writing, by Stephen King Book: The Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White Grammarly You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below! The post Podcast: My go-to writing tips appeared first on Chris Bailey.

On this episode, we briefly chat about Chris’s new book and then dig into the main topic: self-talk. Topics covered include: Chris’s next book, How to Calm Your Mind; The proportion of our internal monologue that’s negative; How self-talk can get in the way of productivity; How universal having negative thought patterns is; How meditation helps tame negative self-talk; How to not zero in on negative thought patterns; The idea of “task-unrelated thought”; How learning to focus helps combat negative self-talk; How gratitude and keeping an accomplishments list help combat negative self-talk. Links mentioned in this episode: My next book: How to Calm Your Mind You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below! The post Podcast: Taming Negative Self-Talk appeared first on Chris Bailey.

On this episode, we chat about why we take certain habits for granted, including the ones that actively provide us with dividends. Topics covered include: A brief recap on “focus modes” and “focus filters” on iOS; Why habits become invisible; Habits that are actively providing us with dividends; The great habits we each have that we regularly check up on; Why some habits can work too well; How to reflect on habits you want to sustain in the long run. You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below!   The post Podcast: The Habits You Take for Granted appeared first on Chris Bailey.

This episode was originally published on December 3, 2019. On this episode, I chat with James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, about his book—and how we can build and develop better habits. You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below!   The post Podcast: My interview with James Clear, author of Atomic Habits appeared first on Chris Bailey.

On this episode, we chat about tactics for becoming a more productive student. Topics covered include: The importance of practice problems; Sitting with problems; The importance to curiosity driving learning; The value of planning on a semester-level;⁃A few apps for managing your schedule; The power of co-op and internships; Taking good breaks; Watching movies instead of binge-watching TV; Reading course outlines. Links mentioned in this episode: Podcast: Procrastination triggers Podcast: How to take a good break Printable four-month calendar creator App: iHomework App: iStudiez Pro App: Power Planner App: Grammarly You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below! The post Podcast: How to be a more productive student appeared first on Chris Bailey.