Recent Articles From EvanCarmichael.com http://www.evancarmichael.com/ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Why-Time-Management-Is-Overrated.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Why-Time-Management-Is-Overrated.html If you visit any library or bookstore, you'll see shelves full of books on time management. It seems we all want to "manage" our time, "get control" of our time, and start doing "what we're supposed to, when we're supposed to." http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Why-Money-Can-Sometimes-Buy-Happiness.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Why-Money-Can-Sometimes-Buy-Happiness.html We've all been told since we were small children that money can't buy happiness. And many of us rely on this maxim throughout our lives, but perhaps not in the way we should. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Whats-Your-Motivation.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Whats-Your-Motivation.html It's become a joke to wonder "what's my motivation?" like an actor, when we have something in front of us to do and just can't seem to get it done. We may complain that we just can't get motivated to do something. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/The-Truth-About-Information-Overload.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/The-Truth-About-Information-Overload.html There's good news and bad news about "information overload." The bad news is, you probably have some overload effect in your life. The good news is, it's probably not as bad as everyone says it is. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Take-What-You-Need-and-Leave-the-Rest.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Take-What-You-Need-and-Leave-the-Rest.html You've probably heard the expression, "Take what you need and leave the rest." This sentiment is often heard in connection with meetings and with other people's opinions, in terms of taking what you can use from what is said, and leave the rest. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Structured-Procrastination.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Structured-Procrastination.html You probably know what procrastination is, but have you heard about "structured procrastination"? This definition, from Stanford philosophy professor John Perry, casts structured procrastination as something even "productive" people tend to do: http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Making-Time-for-Your-Creative-Self.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Making-Time-for-Your-Creative-Self.html "I'm not creative." "I don't have a creative bone in my body." "As creative as you are, that's how uncreative I am." These are all real comments from real people who don't believe they're creative. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Living-a-Life-of-Voluntary-Simplicity.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Living-a-Life-of-Voluntary-Simplicity.html We've all heard of "simple living," and we see the magazines and the news articles and the web sites. I often advocate what I call "voluntary simplicity," by which I mean determining what's important to you and designing a life in support of your values and beliefs. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Its-Never-As-Bad-As-You-Expect.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Its-Never-As-Bad-As-You-Expect.html Our minds play tricks on us, and one of the tricks they play is imagining that something will be absolutely horrible. This turns out to be a useful trick, because in fact things are rarely, if ever, as bad as we expect, and we are always able to deal with them more easily because of that. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Its-All-About-Passion-and-Purpose.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Work-Life/997/Its-All-About-Passion-and-Purpose.html Productivity seems to be the Holy Grail of the twenty-first century. We spend tons of money, and even more time, on things like effectiveness training, time management, planners, goal setting instruction, and general productivity tips.