Procrastinating in a Positive Way

Procrastinating in a Positive Way

Whether we're putting off a hard assignment, delaying the workout that we often dread, or leaving the chores for "just another day", we've all had some sort of personal experience with procrastination. According to Psychology Today, about 20 percent of the population are habitual procrastinators! When we think of procrastinating, the first thought is likely using our cell phones to scroll social media, text or call our friends, or surf the web instead of doing the task at hand. However, that's not always the case, as any time we aren't setting priorities, we tend to procrastinate. Here is a simple…
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Increase Your Productivity: How to Use Measurement and Accountability

Increase Your Productivity: How to Use Measurement and Accountability

We are sharing tips that will help you and other members of the Personal Kaizen community increase your productivity. Today’s post covers measurement and accountability – areas that are often overlooked – or avoided – by individuals. The most effective people practice personal kaizen – continual progress (every day) that compounds over time into massive achievement. Measure What Matters Legendary venture capitalist John Doerr wrote the New York Times bestseller Measure What Matters and suggests you: Focus and commit to priorities: What are your 3-4 most important goals? A short list of goals is easier to track and commit to getting done.Align…
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Increase Your Productivity: A Simple Process for Planning the Week

Increase Your Productivity: A Simple Process for Planning the Week

Recent posts have shared how to increase your productivity by prioritizing the big rocks, defining your values and goals, and prioritizing and planning based on your key roles. We also shared a simple tool to improve your work/life balance. This post will share a simple process for planning the week to ensure you increase your productivity on the important goals in each of the key roles in your life. A Simple Process for Planning the Week Here is the simple process I’ve been using to plan my week for at least the past ten years. Begin with a review of…
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Increase Your Productivity: Purpose, Values, and Goals

Increase Your Productivity: Purpose, Values, and Goals

We spoke about prioritizing your big rocks in our previous post. But how do you determine what the big rocks in your life are? We will share a few methods you can use to determine your life purpose, core values, and goals. Photo Credit: simonsinek.com Start with Your Why In the book, Start with Why, Simon Sinek encourages leaders and organizations to lead their messaging with why they do what they do. He shares his simple concept of the Golden Circle, with your why in the middle, then your how and finally what you do on the edge. As Sinek…
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Increase Your Productivity: Priority Setting

Increase Your Productivity: Priority Setting

Are you able to say, “I made great progress in the parts of life I value” at the end of each day? Our next several posts focus on personal and professional productivity – beginning with the importance of priority setting. Here are three great tips for priority setting: Scheduling your Big Rocks first, ABC Prioritization, and Eat That Frog First. Priority Setting – Big Rocks First The first step in priority setting is identifying your values and principles for life. What values are most important to you? What relationships? How will you help others in your life? In what ways…
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Brain Hack 3: How To Calm Down and Reduce Stress

Brain Hack 3: How To Calm Down and Reduce Stress

Our previous post shared a brain hack that improves your mood instantly. Brain hack 3 will also improve your mood by helping you calm down and reduce stress. This hack can be used anytime you notice that you are feeling anxious, nervous, or overly stressed. How Stress Affects the Brain and Body Stress affects all systems of the body, especially the nervous system. The first part of our brain to form is the limbic system, responsible for our fight-or-flight response to danger. The nervous system responds to stress and danger by forcing shorter, more rapid breaths that will provide us…
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The Continuous Improvement Learning Cycle

The Continuous Improvement Learning Cycle

Kaizen, the Japanese word for continuous improvement, has a long history of success in organizational improvement. The Personal Kaizen movement applies these continuous improvement best practices on a personal level – helping you make small changes to continuously improve yourself. This post shares a continuous improvement learning cycle you can use to experiment and discover the changes that work best for you. Our team has shared our 10 Rules for Life and many simple personal improvement recommendations. Some of our suggestions can change your life for the better, but not every idea is going to be one that makes sense…
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12 Small Habits that will Change Your Life for Good

12 Small Habits that will Change Your Life for Good

I recently saw a new book in my local library that I knew I had to read and share with the Personal Kaizen community. Liquids Till Lunch: 12 Small Habits that Will Change Your Life for Good by MaryRuth Ghiyam is a 2021 release with a title that made me skeptical and a subtitle that made me interested. I wondered – how many of her 12 small habits would agree with the Personal Kaizen 10 Rules for Life? The author is a certified health educator and nutritional consultant with several episodes of personal loss as defining life experiences. This post…
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The Secret of Success Found in Daily Routine

The Secret of Success Found in Daily Routine

Check out our Personal Kaizen Motivational Monday quote! John C. Maxwell is a New York Times Best Selling author, focusing mainly on leadership. He believes that your daily routine has the power to make or break your success. "You'll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of success is found in your daily routine."john c. maxwell The Personal Kaizen community is geared towards continuous improvement, in both your personal and professional lives. Join us later in the week as we discuss good habits, starting with your daily routine! Join the Personal Kaizen Community Our…
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Make Hard Things Seem Fun, Not Important

Make Hard Things Seem Fun, Not Important

Check out our Personal Kaizen Motivational Monday quote! Katy Milkman is a Professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and wrote a book about "how to change" that we are summarizing this week. This quote about making hard things seem fun is one suggestion from her book. "Making hard things seem fun is a much better strategy than making hard things seem important."Katy Milkman Our Personal Kaizen post this week will summarize the main points from the rest of her book! Join the Personal Kaizen Community Our community is here to support and encourage both personal and professional…
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