PRODUCTIVITY

Continuity Books, what Continuity Books are, why the U.S. military swears by them, what the research says about why continuity books work, and 3 protocols to use them so the next person stepping into a role hits the ground running and gets productive from day one. STUDY CITATIONS Bauer, T.N., Bodner, T., Erdogan, B., Truxillo, D.M., & Tucker, J.S. (2007). Newcomer adjustment during organizatio...

We're covering AI meeting assistants. What AI meeting assistants are, why the research says your meetings follow-through keeps breaking down 44% of the time, and 3 protocols for using an AI meeting assistant that will turn your meetings into a plan. STUDY CITATIONS Rogelberg, S. G., Allen, J. A., Shanock, L., Scott, C. W., & Shuffler, M. (2010). Employee satisfaction with their meetings:...

We're breaking down what it means to become an Orchestrator in the age of AI,  what the shift looks like, what the research says about why making the shift matters for your job security, and 3 protocols to start making the transition before the transition is made for you. STUDY CITATIONS McGuire, J., De Cremer, D., & Van de Cruys, T. (2024). Establishing the importance of co-creation and...

We’re diving deeper on flow state psychology to hit your peak performance mode, what the research says about how flow state works, and the 4 triggers psychologists and performance researchers say you need to enter flow state on command so you can hit your peak performance.  STUDY CITATIONS Fong, C.J., Zaleski, D.J., & Leach, J.K. (2015). The challenge-skill balance and antecedents of flow: A m...

We're breaking down the "Can Pick Your Brain" meeting request, what it really is, why you should always say no at first, and 3 protocols to handle pick your brain requests that protect your time while still being genuinely helpful to the person asking. STUDY CITATIONS Leach, D.J., Rogelberg, S.G., Warr, P.B., & Burnfield, J.L. (2009). Perceived meeting effectiveness: The role of...

We're diving into the indirect approach, what the indirect approach is, why Lawrence of Arabia used it to pull off one of the most stunning upsets in military history, what the research says about why the indirect approach works, and 2 ways you can put the indirect approach to work in your own life to get winning outcomes. STUDY CITATIONS Kay, J. (2011). Obliquity: Why Our Goals Are Best Achi...

How to reach your peak performance,  what tricking your brain into peak performance means, what the research says about the hidden reserves your brain is sitting on, and 3 ways to trick your brain into peak performance so you can get more out of your workouts, your deep work sessions, and your creative projects. STUDY CITATIONS Stone, M.R., Thomas, K., Wilkinson, M., Jones, A.M., St Clair Gibson,...

The Ask Me First AI Prompt, what it is, why the ask me first ai prompt works, and 3 ways to put the Ask Me First prompt to work so you get results that actually fit your life. STUDY CITATIONS White, J., Fu, Q., Hays, S., Sandborn, M., Olea, C., Gilbert, H., Elnashar, A., Spencer-Smith, J., & Schmidt, D.C. (2023). A Prompt Pattern Catalog to Enhance Prompt Engineering with ChatGPT. arXiv , abs/...

Gaslighting, what gaslighting is, what the research says about how it damages your sense of reality, and 3 ways to protect yourself and your sanity when you're dealing with a gaslighter in your relationship, your family, or your job. STUDY CITATIONS Ciabatti, M., Nerini, A., & Matera, C. (2024). Gaslighting experience, psychological health, and well-being: The role of self-compassion and...

The Steel Man Technique, what steel manning is, what the research says about why your brain fights it, and 3 ways to use the Steel Man technique to make sharper decisions at home, at work, and when it matters most for your team. STUDY CITATIONS Lord, C.G., Lepper, M.R., & Preston, E. (1984). Considering the opposite: A corrective strategy for social judgment. Journal of Personality and Social...

Groupthink, what groupthink is, what the research says about how Groupthink quietly kills good decisions and ideas, and 3 ways to protect yourself and your team from groupthink before it does any damage. STUDY CITATIONS Choi, J.N., & Kim, M.U. (1999). The organizational application of groupthink and its limitations in organizations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84 (2), 297–306. Make sure you...

We're breaking down imposter syndrome, what imposter syndrome is, what the research says about it, and three ways to flip imposter syndrome from a source of dread into a signal that you're growing. STUDY CITATIONS Clance, P.R., & Imes, S.A. (1978). The imposter phenomenon in high achieving women: Dynamics and therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 15...

We're breaking down why saying no is so hard, what the research says about the language that makes saying no stick, and 3 ways to say no without guilt that will protect your time, your energy, and your sanity. STUDY CITATIONS Patrick, V.M., & Hagtvedt, H. (2012). "I Don't" versus "I Can't": When empowered refusal motivates goal-directed behavior. Journal of C...

We're explaining how to use Googles Nano Banana effectively for image editing, what Nano Banana is, why vague prompts tank your results every time, and three Nano Banana prompting techniques that will get you the output you're actually shooting for. STUDY CITATIONS Research section: Xiang, Y., et al. (2025). When misunderstanding meets artificial intelligence: the critical role of trust...

We're breaking down email signatures, not the kind with your name and title, but pre-written response templates you build once and send in seconds.  We explain what email signatures are, why the research on email signatures makes them a no-brainer, how to build email signatures, and three ways to put email signatures to work so you can stop retyping the same responses and get your time back....

We're covering the Steve Jobs 2-hour rule, we explain what the Steve Jobs 2-hour rule is, what neuroscience says about why unstructured thinking time is one of the most productive things you can do for your brain, and three ways to build the Steve Jobs 2-hour rule into your day. STUDY CITATIONS Mason, M.F., Norton, M.I., Van Horn, J.D., Wegner, D.M., Grafton, S.T., & Macrae, C.N. (2007)....

We're giving you the top AI prompts for your work life. We explain what the research says about the hours you stand to get back, and five AI prompts you can start using today to get your time back, protect your sanity and even leave work early a few days a week STUDY CITATIONS Microsoft. (2023). Microsoft Work Trend Index Special Report: Will AI Fix Work? Microsoft Corporation. Stanford Insti...

We're giving you AI prompts for your personal life that saves you hours every week. We explain what they are, why the research says AI is about to change how we handle the stuff that eats our time at home, and five specific personal life AI prompts you can copy and use this week to get real hours back for yourself. STUDY CITATIONS Shi, L., Hertfordshire, H., Yamamoto, K., & Yamamoto, T. (...

We're breaking down what cognitive diversity is, why Churchill's secret WWII unit proved it before science did, what the research says about why cognitively diverse teams outperform everyone else, and three moves you can make to build a more productive team that can actually handle the hard stuff. STUDY CITATIONS Reynolds, A., & Lewis, D. (2017). Teams solve problems faster when they...

We're breaking down the power of "because." What it is, why your brain responds to “because” the way it does, what the research says, and three ways to put "because" to work so you get more yeses at work, at home, and everywhere in between. STUDY CITATIONS Langer, E. J., Blank, A., & Chanowitz, B. (1978). The mindlessness of ostensibly thoughtful action: The role of &q...

We're breaking down No Single-Player Mode, what it means, why being the only person who knows how to do something is a productivity and burnout trap, and three moves to get you and your team out of single-player mode for good. STUDY CITATIONS Myers, C.G., & Desai, S.V. (2018). Association between team learning behavior and reduced burnout among medicine residents. Journal of General Inter...

We're talking Google NotebookLM, what it is, how Google NotebookLM is different from every other AI tool you're already using, what the research says about using AI this way, and three ways to start using Google NotebookLM to save you time, reduce your frustration, and see things in your data you might otherwise not have realized was there. STUDY CITATIONS Brynjolfsson, E., Li, D., &...

We're talking the Pygmalion Effect, what the Pygmalion Effect is, what the research says about how it shows up at home and at work, and three ways to use the Pygmalion Effect to lift the people around you. STUDY CITATIONS Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom. The Urban Review, 3 (1), 16–20. Kierein, N. M., & Gold, M. A. (2000). Pygmalion in work organizatio...

Today we're talking digital tone interpretation, what it is, why your brain is wired to misread email, text and IM messages, what the research says, and three ways to stop letting these messages live rent-free in your head and wreck your day. STUDY CITATIONS Kruger, J., Epley, N., Parker, J., & Ng, Z. (2005). Egocentrism over e-mail: Can we communicate as well as we think? Journal of Pers...

We're diving into what strategic vulnerability is, why most people have it completely backwards, what the research says about how strategic vulnerability builds trust and makes you more productive, and three practical ways to start using strategic vulnerability at home, at work, and anywhere you want people to actually follow your lead. STUDY CITATIONS Ito, A., & Bligh, M. (2017). Feeling...