Index

• 80/20 law 36–7

• ‘acceptance and commitment’ 66
• accountability 16
• activist learning style 20, 21
• adaptability 16
• amygdala 52–3
• anxiety 9–10, 63, 64, 69
  • procrastination and 83
• apathy 63
• ‘as If’ strategy 67–9, 77, 83

• Barry, Dave 97
• batching tasks 46–7, 50, 57–8
• Baumeister, Dr Roy 73
• Beyonce 11
• brain 52–3
• Brandstätter, Veronika 37
• burnout, avoiding 113

• calmness 17
• Carroll, Lewis: Alice in Wonderland 28
• cerebral blood flow (CBF) 111
• clarity 100
• closure 112
• coffee run 109–10
• commitment 8, 9–10, 23
• communication 15, 32–3, 47
• compromise 101
• confidence 5
• conscientiousness 17
• ‘constructive procrastination’ 39
• conversation, one‐to‐one, vs meetings 98
• cooperativeness 17
• creativity 17, 45–6
• Currey, Mason 45
• cut‐off time, setting 113

• deadlines 22, 35, 36, 51–5, 61, 63, 64, 76, 83
• ‘Decision Leeches’ 95–7
• decision making 70–1
  • delegation of 96
  • routine and 43–4
  • time and personal energy draining 96
• decision memos 43–4
• ‘decision tree’ 96–7
• decisiveness 17
• delegation 91, 92, 93, 102
  • of decision making 96
• delusional thinking 7, 12
• determination 5, 7, 11, 17
• disconnection 113
• distractions 78, 84
  • avoiding 77–9
• Donoghue, Emma 37

• ‘eating the frog’ 38–9, 40
• Einstein, Albert 6
• Eisenhower, Dwight D. 34–6, 51
• enthusiasm 8, 17
• exercise 108–9

• flexibility 6, 11, 16
• Flynn, Frank 90, 92
• focus 54
• follow‐up 93
• ‘future self’ 62

• goals, identifying 30–1
• Gollwitzer, Peter 37
• Grohl, Dave 27
• guilt 64, 65, 69
  • procrastination and 83

• help
  • asking for 89–91, 92
  • making it easy for someone 92–3
  • making use of 89
  • reasons for needing 92
  • refusing to give 100–1, 103
• Hemingway, Ernest 69, 112
• hindrances 89, 94
• Hofmann, Wilhelm 77
• honesty 100
• Honey, Peter 20
• Honey and Mumford: Learning Style Questionnaire 22–3

• identifying options 32
• ‘if…then…’ strategy 69–70, 77, 83
• imagination 17, 19
• importance 34–7
• indecisiveness 57
• innovation 17, 19
• interpersonal skills 15–16
• interruptions, managing 94–5, 102
• intuition 17, 71

• Jobs, Steve 8

• kickstarting 65–7
• King, Stephen 65

• Lake, Vanessa 90, 92
• law of diminishing returns 56
• learning styles 19–23
• Learning Style Questionnaire (Honey and Mumford) 22–3
• lists 78
  • ‘to‐do’ 33, 40, 55
• logic 17

• McCarthy, Matthew 110
• meetings
  • agenda 98, 99
  • avoiding unnecessary 97–9
  • leaving early 99, 103
  • standing or walking 110
  • team 99
  • veering off subject 99
• methods 17
• Morrison, Toni 79
• motivation 66, 83
• movement 107–11
• multitasking 49–51
• Mumford, Alan 20

• needs, anticipating 78
• negotiation 101
• neo cortex 52–3
• Newton, Sir Isaac 67

• Obama, Barack 43
• observation 17
• office fitness challenge 110–11
• open mindedness 16
• optimism 8, 18
• optimization of time 40–2, 54–5
• organization 17

• Pareto's Principle 36–7
• Parkinson's law 54
• patience 18
• perceptiveness 17
• persistence 5, 7, 11, 12, 18, 72–5
• planning 37–40, 58
  • for difficulties, delays, and setbacks 79–82
  • for minor delays 80
  • prioritization and 33–4
  • vs plans 51–2
• plans, worthlessness of 51–2
• Pompliano, Anthony 27
• practical approach 18
• pragmatist learning style 20, 21
• present self 62
• prioritization and planning 53, 55
• procrastination 36, 57, 63–4, 82
  • ‘constructive’ 39
  • guilt and anxiety and 83
  • routine and 43–4
• productive mindset 5–7, 11, 23

• qualities, personal 16–18

• realistic approach 18
• reality check 30–1
• reflector learning style 20, 22
• reliability 18
• requests, refusing 99–101
• resentment 63, 65
• resilience 18
• resourcefulness 18
• responsibility 16
• rewards 75–6
• routines 42–6, 57
  • creating structure and flow 44–6
  • providing familiarity and stability 44
  • reducing number of decisions 43–4
  • reducing procrastination 43–4
  • reducing stress 44

• scheduling 37–8
• ‘sedentary’ behaviour 107–8
• self‐control 73, 84
• self‐discipline 57, 72–5, 79, 84
• skills 23
• social skills 15–16
• stagnation 6
• standing your ground 101
• strengths, personal 16–18, 23
• stress, routine and 44
• stretching 109
• stubbornness 6, 7, 11, 12
• succinctness 100
• sunk costs 9
• switching off 112–13

• task batching 70
• task switching 47–9, 50, 57
• ‘thank you’, saying 93
• theorist learning style 20, 21
• thoroughness 18
• time
  • effective use of 81–2
  • lack of 57
  • optimizing 40–2, 54–5
• ‘to‐do’ list 33, 40, 55
• training yourself 78
• travel to work 110
• trepidation 9
• Twain, Mark 38, 95

• uncertainty 63
• urgency 34–7

• verbal communication 15
• Vohs, Kathleen 77

• waiting time 81, 85
  • movement and 109
• walking 109, 111
• water, drinking 109
• willpower 72–5, 79, 84
• working vs not working balance 112
• workload, reviewing 94
• worry 9
• written communication 15, 32–3

• ‘Zeigarnik effect’ 78