Productivity ninja: 5 powerful tips for getting mo

Productivity ninja: 5 powerful tips for getting more stuff done

1. Know when you're at your best

And plan accordingly. To be a productivity ninja focus less on time management, and more on managing your energy.

Charlie Munger, vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, used a system like this to make sure he was always growing. He identified the hours when he was at his best \ and then routinely stole one of those peak hours for learning.

Charlie Munger hit upon one strategy when he was a young lawyer. He decided that whenever his legal work was not as intellectually stimulating as he'd like, "I would sell the best hour of the day to myself." He would take otherwise billable time at the peak of his day and dedicate it to his own thinking and learning. "And only after improving my mind \ only after I'd used my best hour improving myself \ would I sell my time to my professional clients." [The Idea Hunter: How to Find the Best Ideas and Make them Happen]

Are you a morning lark? A night owl? Tired after lunch? Best after a nap? Track what works for you and plan around that.


2. Get enough sleep

No, you can't cheat yourself on sleep. Cutting corners on siesta time has a cascade of negative effects, not the least of which is making you less proactive.

Irrespective of how well you were able to get on with your day after that most recent night without sleep, it is unlikely that you felt especially upbeat and joyous about the world. Your more-negative-than-usual perspective will have resulted from a generalized low mood, which is a normal consequence of being overtired. More important that just the mood, this mind-set is often accompanied by decreases in willingness to think and act proactively, control impulses, feel positive about yourself, empathize with others, and generally use emotional intelligence.[The Secret World of Sleep: The Surprising Science of the Mind at Rest]

In fact, some people's emotions are so disturbed after a night of sleep deprivation that they could be classified as psychopaths. That might make you into a good real ninja but not a productivity ninja.

All of these things combine to change the way they score on clinical mood disorder scales, often tipping perfectly normal people over the edge into the clinically relevant zone, so that, if tested on that particular day, they could be classified as depressed or even as psychopaths. [The Secret World of Sleep: The Surprising Science of the Mind at Rest]

What's the best way to improve your sleep? Learn how astronauts sleep.


3. Distractions will make you stupid

Students whose classroom was situated near a noisy railroad line ended up academically a full year behind students with a quiet classroom. When the noise was dampened, the performance difference vanished.

To measure the impact of this noise on academic performance, two researchers noted that only one side of the school faced the tracks, so the students in classrooms on that side were particularly exposed to the noise but were otherwise similar to their fellow students. They found a striking difference between the two sides of the school. Sixth graders on the train side were a full year behind their counterparts on the quieter side. Further evidence came when the city, prompted by this study, installed noise pads. The researchers found this erased the difference: now students on both sides of the building performed at the same level.[Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much]

Distractions might mean you don't notice gorillas walking by. Seriously.

Here's how to improve focus.


4. Work somewhere that facilitates productivity

Have a spot where you're usually productive? Go there. How about a place where you always screw around and waste time? Avoid it.

Wendy Wood, a professor at USC explains how your environment activates habits \ without your conscious mind even noticing.

Habits emerge from the gradual learning of associations between an action and outcome, and the contexts that have been associated with them. Once the habit is formed, various elements from the context can serve as a cue to activate the behavior, independent of intention and absent of a particular goal... Very often, the conscious mind never gets engaged. [Habit: The 95% of Behavior Marketers Ignore]

Context matters more than you think.


5. Believe in what you do

Sounds like a corny cliche, but the research supports it. What happens when you see your work as a calling, not just a job that pays the bills? You are more thorough, engaged \ and happier.

The research of psychologists Amy Wrzesniewski and Jane Dutton shows just how much of our mind-set \ what we choose to focus on \ affects our experience of work. Wrzesniewski and Dutton followed a group of hospital cleaners, and found that some of the cleaners experienced their work as a job \ as something they did solely for the paycheck \ and described it as boring and meaningless. But another group perceived the same work as a calling \ and experienced the hours they spent at work as engaging and meaningful. This second group of hospital cleaners did things differently from the first group. They engaged in more interactions with nurses, patients, and visitors, taking it upon themselves to make everyone they came in contact with feel better. Generally, they saw their work in its broader context: They were not merely cleaning the wards and removing the trash, but were contributing to the health of patients and the smooth functioning of the hospital. [Choose the Life You Want: The Mindful Way to Happiness]

How do you do this? It's about interacting with the people who experience the benefits of your work.

Wharton professor Adam Grant did research trying to motivate employees at a university call center. When call center workers were shown letters written by grateful students who had received scholarships funded by the workers' calls, their motivation soared. What pushed their motivation even higher? Speaking with those students.

When callers interacted with one scholarship recipient in person, they were even more energized. The average caller doubled in calls per hour and minutes on the phone per week. By working harder the callers reached more alumni, resulting in 144 percent more alumni donating each week. Even more strikingly, revenue quintupled: callers averaged $412 before meeting the scholarship recipient and more than $2000 afterward. [Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success]

Never, ever underestimate the power of the right attitude.

順風時若是無知

順風時若是無知
逆流時無從瀟灑

Heng Chee Meng anti-scam 3-point checklist

Heng Chee Meng anti-scam 3-point checklist

1. Is the deal too good to be true?
If answer is No, ends here.
If answer is Yes, go to Q2.

2. Why so good deal come to find me?
If can't answer, ends here.
If can find answer, it is likely to be Q3.

3. What does the person want from me after giving me such good deal? Am I willing to trade that?
If answer is No, ends here.
If answer is Yes, you should find by this time the answer to Q1 is NO.

How to win friends and influence people -- Dale Ca

How to win friends and influence people -- Dale Carnegie


[HANDLING PEOPLE]

1. Don't criticise, condemn or complain.

2. Give honest and sincere appreciation.

3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.


[MAKE PEOPLE LIKE YOU]

4. Become genuinely interested in other people.

5. Smile.

6. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.

7. Be a good listener, encourage others to talk about themselves.

8. Talk in terms of the other person's interest.

9. Make the other people feel important.


[WIN THE PEOPLE TO YOUR WAY OF THINKING]

10. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.

11. Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never say, "You're wrong."

12. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.

13. Begin in a friendly way.

14. Get the other person saying "yes", "yes" immediately.

15. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.

16. Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.

17. Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.

18. Be sympathetic with the other person's ideas and desires.

19. Appeal to the nobler motives.

20. Dramatize your ideas.

21. Throw down a challenge (to inspire the desire to excel).


[CHANGE PEOPLE WITHOUT GIVING OFFENSE OR AROUSING RESENTMENT]

22. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.

23. Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly.

24. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.

25. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.

26. Let the other person save face.

27. Praise the slightest improvement and every improvement.

28. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.

29. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.

30. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.

说到心坎里的肺腑之言

初级的快乐是肉体的快乐，那是饱、暖、物、欲。

中级的快乐是精神的快乐，那是诗词歌赋、琴棋书画、游走天下。

高级的快乐是灵魂的快乐，那是付出、奉献，让他人因为你的存在而快乐！


平庸的人只有一条命，叫性命；

优秀的人有两条命，即性命和生命；

卓越的人则有三条命，性命、生命和使命。它们分别代表着生存、生活和责任！

人与人的差距，表面上看是财富的差距，实际上是福报的差距；

表面上看是人脉的差距，实际上是人品的差距；

表面上看是气质的差距，实际上是涵养的差距；

表面上看是容貌的差距，实际上是心地的差距；

表面上看是人与人都差不多，内心境界却大不相同，心态决定命运。

男人只有穷一次，才知道哪个女人最爱你。

女人只有丑一次，才知道哪个男人不会离开你。

人只有落魄一次，才知道谁最真谁最在乎你。


陪伴，不是你有钱我才追随。

珍惜，不是你漂亮我才关注。

时间留下的，不是财富，不是美丽，是真诚。