It’s that time again. The next couple of weeks I will be taking a break from social media. This benefits me in multiple ways. 1) Relationships – I’ll be able to better focus on the relationships right in front of me. In particular, my wife and I will be having some quality time. 2) Productivity – Doing this every so often increases my productivity…in the short term, but more importantly, over the long haul. 3) Faith – I will be spending extra time in prayer during this time. Increased prayer always equals spiritual growth. 4) Presence – Michelle and I will be traveling some and we look forward to being…

It is an interesting dichotomy. We don’t get enough sleep and we sit too much. Both of these are killers, literally. Sleep Your body needs about 8 hours of sleep a night. Without it, you will be less productive, a less pleasant person to be around and tired (of course). You body needs sleep. My sweet spot is 7.5 hours. Less than this and I’ve noticed I feel groggy. More…well, I don’t usually have a problem with sleeping too much. My body wakes me up one way or another. Sitting Do you sit all day at work? That is bad. No really, it is not good for you. If you…

This past week my plan was to rest. I intentionally chose to not publish any blog posts, to take it easy and spend time with family. Then towards the end of the week I was going to get a head start on this next week by working in the mornings. Well, I finally caught the cold going around in our family. The voice in my head said, “See this is why you don’t rest. Now you are going to be behind because you didn’t work when you were healthy.” Do you ever tell yourself this lie? So I was stuck in pickle. Do I rest some more or do I…

It’s important to rest. It’s important to rest. It’s important to rest. I’m working on actually believing this. There is something in me that equates rest with laziness. Can you relate? Probably some deep insecurity I have. The fact is, that we all need to rest. A friend of mine once shared with me the importance of having periods of rest, rhythms annually, monthly, and weekly that include rest. This particular person takes a day off each week. Crazy! I know. So I come, as a fellow struggler in this area, to say to you this week, “You need to take a break.” So spend some time doing things that…

Well, I am back from my Social Media Pause. It was good to take a break. I was traveling the last two weeks and despite the time change, I slept quite well. I think this could be attributed to the break from social media. It was also nice to be able to better focus on the people in front of me. Although I absolutely love social media, I look forward to these breaks from time to time. I was at a leadership conference a few years ago and Jim Collins, author of Good to Great (and some other excellent books),was one of the speakers. I was taking copious notes. He was…

For the next two weeks I am taking a break from social media. I’ve been told there are many benefits to doing this and I hope to experience a few. Some include: Greater focus Sense of peace Restfulness Increased productivity I will not be blogging much either. Well, I will be writing, but not posting as much. Would you like to join me? Maybe you can’t do two weeks right now. Try 1 day. What benefits can you see to taking a break from social media?

This is it. My secret productivity tip. I am not naturally very productive. I must manage my tasks, energy, distractions and interruptions. This tip is key to doing all of this and I’m really good at it. No, getting up early is not it, but you are close. The morning is when I get a lot done. Decision making and interruptions tank my energy. So releasing my creative side, focusing and moving through difficult projects require my full attention…usually in the early morning. Diet and exercise are important too. I am working on these, but still have a long way to go. Not my secret tip. If you want to…