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Team Not Quite Connecting? Prescriptions for Social Loafing

When groups of people work together to complete projects, one of the dangers is a pesky phenomenon called “social loafing.” Not Quite Working Together in a Motivated Way Social Loafing. When people are working on a group project, there’s this all-too-human tendency to slack off—to invest less effort than when working alone. In studies, people… Continue Reading

You Want Me to Learn What? The Rhetoric of the Rationale

Adults especially, (but kids also) want a reason why they should attend to learning something new. The reason we’re learning this is over this way. We use a short rationale at the beginning of a course, a module, a lesson, a key activity, as needed, to help spark motivation for learning. Without motivation, our learners… Continue Reading

Tight Timeline? How to Cope

So, we had this project with a tight timeline. And then the start of it was delayed. However, the end dates did not move, so the timeline was even tighter. On top of that, because of shifting the start date, this project landed right on top of other priorities. Enter a string of long days.… Continue Reading

The Pause That Fuels Momentum

Q: When is procrastination our friend? A: When we work on one useful project while avoiding another. For example, you finish your geometry homework while avoiding writing a book report. (However, you still have to write the book report.) Project as interesting as watching paint dry? Take a pause and keep after it. The rest… Continue Reading

Morning Motivation & KanbanFlow

For the 95% of us who, at least sometimes, suffer from procrastination, there are many tips & tricks for “getting with the program.” Piecing the Day Together Here’s a productivity and motivation enhancement that I added to my main KanbanFlow (KBF) board for as soon as I officially start my workday. (You could do this… Continue Reading

Happy Spring—But What About Those Lost Resolutions?

For those celebrating, Happy Easter! Every day is a new day, which is so easy to notice as the trees leaf out and flowers bloom all over. This is a great season for starting fresh. In other words, if yesterday I wasn’t as productive, focused, present, connected, or compassionate as I wanted to be, today… Continue Reading

Dear Valentine: What if I loved my life?

Just a thought as Valentine’s Day approaches (or for any time of year, really). A little encouragement. How many of us spend (just possibly) too much time bemoaning this or that aspect of our lives? I have done this many times. It’s easy to settle in to a kind of internal dialogue that’s not so… Continue Reading

When You Don’t Feel Like Writing

Sometimes it helps to start with an Internet search or two and then a mind map. It doesn’t hurt a bit to reflect on goals. And when it seems like sleeping would be a lot better idea than writing, I ask the Google for advice. When all else fails, I use my own tips for… Continue Reading

Keeping Resolutions-Goals-Habits Visible with KanbanFlow

Who keeps their New Year’s resolutions? Hardly anybody. Sorry, but most of us are doomed to abandon our good intentions. Accomplishing new goals, breaking habits, making habits—all of these involve change. As we all know, change can be hard, even if we are the ones who wanted to make the change in the first place.… Continue Reading

Tracking Your Health-Related Goals Without Taking Forever

Like everyone I know, I have limited time for keeping track of progress toward my health and fitness goals. Still, keeping track is important. Why? We know that tracking progress makes a huge difference. For example, after I set specific walking goals and then regularly checked to see how I was doing, I walked twice… Continue Reading