Psychology & Living

Don't be embarrassed if you occasionally feel scattered. It's a normal transition state.  For example, after you've finished a major project, you may feel somewhat scattered until you've figured out the next big thing to focus on. But don't let yourself remain...

"Change your smoke detector batteries when you change the clocks to or from Daylight Savings Time. Otherwise you'll forget." This little trick suggests a way to help you achieve some of the most important goals you'll ever set: your lifetime goals. Your lifetime goals...

Did something go badly? A "discussion" with a spouse or coworker that ended in acrimony? A proposal that flopped? When something goes badly, you may be tempted to forget about it and just try to do better next time. But the secret to doing better lies in thinking more...

Join me in the campaign to eliminate prejudice against messy thinking tactics. Floating in the back of many people's minds is the idea that "logical" means "neat." People sometimes hesitate to make a list unless they can write down the items in their proper order....

When you have a big question to think about, don't wait until you have 2 or 3 hours free to tackle it. There just aren't enough big blocks of time available to make that a practical strategy. Instead, I learn how to Velcro together smaller blocks of time--say 25...

Here's some old-fashioned advice that may be just what you need to get out of a present-day thinking block: Spread out your notes all over your desk. That's right, your desk, not your computer screen. Yes, programs exist to move around words in many wonderful easy...

Pressure can sabotage your thinking. By pressure, I mean an issue weighing on your mind as you try to concentrate on something else. Perhaps it's an imminent deadline or a desperate desire to do a fantastic job. Maybe it's a highly-charged emotional situation you...

Here's a surprisingly effective technique that can pry information loose from your brain and ignite your thinking when you're stalled: The "Q&A Technique." [1]  Here's the technique:  Write down a question you are puzzling over. ("How" and "Why"...

It's easy to fall into a counterproductive pattern. Perhaps you often check email before settling down to work--and then reading the email wipes out your morning work time. Or three days in a row you put off an important call until the afternoon--then forget to make...

It happens to the best of us. You sit down to work on your top project, but soon you find yourself thinking about how to respond to a contentious email. Or after a solid hour's work, you step out for a quick break and get waylaid by a co-worker who "just needs five...

Here's a daily practice I learned from Martin Seligman, author of Learned Optimism and Authentic Happiness. Once each day, write down three good things that happened in the last 24 hours. You can write them before going to bed or first thing in the morning. You can...

This New Year’s, resolve to think about how to make your life better, not just once a year, but every day.

New Year’s Day is the most active-minded holiday, because it is the one where people evaluate their lives and plan and resolve to take action.

Many books offer great advice. Some are so powerful they change your mind on issues you consider settled. Very few are so clear you can learn something about thinking just by reading them. TJ Walker's Secret to Foolproof Presentations is all three.   At first...

I think willpower draws on a kind of reservoir of emotional energy. Because it is so important to be able to call on willpower when I need it, I do several things to conserve that energy by reducing how often I need willpower: 1) I schedule my activity so it matches...

Here's a daily practice I learned from Martin Seligman, author of Learned Optimism and Authentic Happiness. Once each day, write down three good things that happened in the last 24 hours. You can write them before going to bed or first thing in the morning. You can...

I'm a believer in using checklists and notes as memory aids. But sometimes you need to be able to rely on your own memory. This is particularly true for things you want to remember every time, like: Remember the car keys. Pronounce that word PREF-ur-u-buul, not...

In the 1960's, Charles Kepner and Benjamin Tregoe translated a few key logical processes into simple, practical, teachable procedures. Since then, their methods have helped three generations of managers solve problems and make decisions at work. Their book, The New...

I read an interesting quote the other day, on a church front, which went something like this: "Those who actually seek out 'pleasure' rarely find it." This is a very appropriate slogan for an organization with a religious point of view. Religion, by its nature,...

If we are to establish an objective, fact-based morality, we need to discover a final end–one toward which all of our other goals and values are properly aimed.

Q: How should one deal with rumors (especially false ones) about oneself? Should one spend her time chasing them down and trying to explain their false nature, or ignore them? Is there some other alternative? A: The first task is psychological: treat the rumors for...