This week's video tackles a commonly overlooked productivity pitfall: the mismanagement of high-energy states.

When your energy surges, you’re more likely to do non-essential, exploratory tasks. This leaves you feeling overwhelmed and frustrated by day's end, when your energy begins to drop and your essential tasks have been mostly ignored.

You didn’t set out with that intention, so what happened?

That’s what today’s productivity micro-challenge is about. Give me 5 minutes to save you hours of wasted energy this week.

I know the reason you aren't getting to where you want. It's one of nine possibilities.

Skill/Information - Do I have the skills and necessary information?

Belief - Do I even believe I can have this?

Fear - What if I try and I fail?

Money - Is it smart and secure to invest?

Well-being - Will my quality of life decline if I do this?

Motivation - Okay, I'm motivated for a bit on an idea...but then it always drops off.

Other people - Well my partner doesn't think it's a good idea.

Time - I can't get what I want, I don't have enough time!

In this challenge I want you to get crystal clear about what you know you should pursue, and what is keeping you from it.

Need some help? Let's TALK

Jump-Start Your Brain’s Natural Drive With “Certainty-Circuits”

Regardless of what you’re trying to accomplish in life, one universal principle can help you succeed. I’m talking about the power of absolute certainty.

Moving from a state of uncertainty to a state of certainty is like magic. And whether you’ve recognized it or not, I’m sure you’ve felt it before.

Here’s what it feels like…

You’re at the beach, standing at the edge of the surf, dipping your toe to see how cold the ocean feels. You came here to swim, get some exercise, and let your kids play around in the ocean.

But now you feel sleepy, not much like exercising. And the ocean feels colder than you expected. Then something catches your eye.

It’s a flash of color floating 30 yards out in the waves. You realize it’s the back of your son’s swimsuit. He’s face down, bobbing aimlessly in the waves. He appears to be unconscious.

Your...

How to Beat Subconscious Sabotage with “Disciplined Pleasure”

Who is more productive, a person who works eight hours every day, or a person who works six hours every day?

If you’ve been studying productivity for long, you already know this is a trick question. We’ve been conditioned to equate “busy” and “productive.” When in reality, productivity is about getting things done. It’s not about working long hours.

Here’s a better question. “How can I finish eight hours of work in six hours?” 

The “trick” to pulling that off may be easier than you think, and a lot more enjoyable than you might imagine.  

The Surprising Truth About Productivity

Humans love novelty. As a productivity hacker myself, I’m fascinated by cutting-edge ideas for getting things done faster.

Despite this, I force myself to periodically review the basics. I’m talking about tried-and-true,...

There’s a thief lurking in the shadows of your mind.

He’ll never break into your home or rob you at gunpoint. He just waits for you to invite him in. He stands beside you in broad daylight, quietly siphoning away your motivation, creativity, and drive. 

His favorite mark? Entrepreneurs who take destiny into their own hands.

He targets people with enough talent to drive progress by the sheer power of their will. Anyone smart enough to have multiple options for building an empire, creating from scratch, or blazing new trails one step at a time.

Your enemy is uncertainty. He is the thief in the night. The killer of dreams. The kryptonite that drains your powers of productivity.

A Sudden Burst of Productivity

Have you ever experienced a burst of productivity and effortless focus? Did you ride the wave of creative synthesis, sidestepping hurdles at breakneck speeds?

For a moment, you held in your hands the two active ingredients of peak productivity. Clear goals...

Much of what you accomplish in this life depends on your beliefs about who you are and what you are capable of.

So, it makes sense that many of my clients practice affirmations.

They want to adopt beliefs that support the grand vision they hold for their lives and businesses. They want to instill a sense of possibility, strength, and certainty deep within the mind’s subconscious operating system.

So they use affirmations.

It’s a common practice stemming from a self-help industry that is propelled forward by ideas that sell, even if those ideas have no scientific merit or practical utility.

I’d like to show you something better. Something that actually has the power to change your life.

It’s an alternative to practicing positive affirmations for those who want to test the limits of what’s possible, and for those who enjoy the thrill of truly striving for uncommon results.

The Problem with Affirmations

Affirmations represent an attempt to change your...

Checklists are not just for uber-organized people.

Rather, they are tools to dramatically increase your speed.

There’s something satisfying about checking off the items on a checklist. Beyond the sheer satisfaction though, what if using checklists could actually make you smarter and more productive?

Smarter and faster? Here’s how that works:

Free download: How to create your own useful checklists.

Checklists reduce mistakes

One of the common uses of checklists in workplace situations is for complex tasks. In his book The Checklist Manifesto, author and surgeon Atul Gawande explores the use of checklists in daily and professional life.

He points out that even the most basic mistakes can have a cumulative effect, leading to something more serious later on. And that’s one of the reasons airline pilots rely on checklists before every single flight.

It doesn’t matter if an airline pilot has flown the same route in the same aircraft hundreds of times, they...