Screw Efficiency, Let’s Be Productive Instead
When I was looking for images to go with this piece, I looked up productivity images on Unsplash. One photo had a computer screen that read “Do More”. Is that what productivity is? Absolutely fucking not.
Occasionally when I talk about what I do, someone will ask me if I make people more efficient.
My answer is no. Efficiency is not productivity.
What If It Could Be Simpler?
Is your life simple and easy, as a business owner?
Pride and Productivity
One of my favorite experiences took place in San Francisco in the ‘90s where I was attending a conference. I was at a club or a bar, I can’t remember which, having a blast after the conference ended for the day.
At one point I had to go to the bathroom. When I finished my business and was washing my hands, I realized I was the only cisgender woman in the bathroom. So I did the only thing I could think to do.
Diversify Your Life, Not Just Your Investments
Do you genuinely love the business you’re running? If so, you might think that you’ll never retire.
However, unless you die at a relatively young age, you will reach a point where you will no longer be able, either physically or mentally, to work full-time. If you are in a knowledge job, that age likely isn’t 65. You probably still have another decade or so to work. Unfortunately, quite a few people will be forced to retire earlier than planned earlier due to illness or a layoff.
The good news is…
Summer Solstice for Business Owners
In case you haven’t noticed, keyboards and screens are not your friends. I mean that both literally and figuratively.
June 21 this year is the summer solstice (at least here in the northern hemisphere), which means it’s the longest day of sunlight in the entire year. When was the last time you celebrated the solstice?
Communicate Effectively for Enhanced Effectiveness
I was talking to a client about keeping her focus time free of distractions, and she told me that every time she tried to focus at home, her wife kept interrupting her during the time she’d set aside.
A Curmudgeonly Contrarian’s Guide to Creativity – For Business Owners
Creativity! you say. Damn it, Jim, I’m an entrepreneur, not an artist.
But if you want to stand out in a world getting more and more ensloppified by tech giants whose key leaders actively hate humanity, you’re going to need some creativity.
Time Is Precious, Money is Not
All my life I thought I would live to be at least 100. Mainly because my mother’s family was long-lived; her Aunt Jenny lived to be 103.
Use It or Lose It
The first time I found out about the use-it-or-lose-it properties of the human brain came when I was discussing my upcoming LASIK appointment with my surgeon.
3 Small Biz Tips for Small Business Week
A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I had my first job in the world of finance working for a European private bank.
You might not know this, but banks didn’t always have KYC (Know Your Customer) regulations – because I started before the bank began implementing them.
And in this long ago far away galaxy, the upper level employees (I think it was director-level and above) were required to take two weeks of vacation in a row every year.
Put Your Tools Back Where They Belong
Imagine you’re putting up a curtain rod in your house. For this, you’ll need a drill and a level unless you’re really good at eyeballing straight lines. Hopefully, you have a place where you keep your tools so you can quickly access your drill and level. After you’ve finished putting up the rod, you put them back where they came from.
But what if you carried the level around with you to make sure that everything you see is straight? You check everything in your house with the level, including your bed after you make it in the morning. Pretty soon, you start feeling worried if you haven’t used the level and you still have the urge to straighten everything.
Three Ways You’re Getting In Your Own Way As a Business Owner
As a business owner, what’s your greatest asset?
Do Your Goals Need a Refresh?
I normally consider myself a “good girl”, and yes the trauma of that follows me through life. Being a good girl usually means that you do what you say you’re going to do.
And last week I had to admit that I wasn’t a good girl, because I missed a deadline. GASP
Are You Optimizing For the Wrong Things as a Business Owner?
What’s more important to you: a fulfilling life or a great business that you started?
(BTW, you can have both… but probably not the way you’re working right now.)
Maintenance For Business Owners
Ask any plant operator or facilities manager, and they’ll tell you: if you don’t schedule maintenance for your equipment, your equipment will schedule it for you. By breaking down.
Do you enjoy an activity like skiing or bicycling that requires specific, sometimes (or often) expensive, equipment? Or a hobby that does?
How do you take care of your equipment?
Solitude for Entrepreneurs
I know a lot of extroverted business owners; I’m obviously not one of them, but I’m also not the only introvert in the group. You can be successful either way.
Are You a Goldfish?
A study in 2003 showed that people would focus on a screen for about two and a half minutes before switching to another task.
The first smartphones were introduced in 2007. Instagram launched in 2010 and was acquired by Meta (then Facebook) in 2012. In that same year, that attention span measurement dropped to one minute and fifteen seconds.
Tiktok launched in China in 2016 and became very popular in the US about 2020. In 2025, that same measurement of attention span dropped…
Fight Back With Self-Care
Are you a business owner who wants to have a positive impact with your business?
Great, that’s what I thought.
Next question. When are you best able to serve your clients: when you’re exhausted and overwhelmed, or when you’re well-rested, hydrated, and have moved your body in some way?
Unplug for Sustainable Productivity
March 7 is the National Day of Unplugging. If you’re one of the many Americans who spends too much time on your phone, let this day liberate you.
Give It a Rest Already!
The more you learn about the brain, the more interesting it gets. And the more you realize how powerful it is. Yes, even when compared to computers.