It’s pretty rare to find people who (almost) never procrastinate — in my experience, 95-99% of people procrastinate, at least part of each day. If not most of the day!

That’s not a judgment — I procrastinate too. It’s about understanding our habitual reactions to stress, uncertainty, difficult tasks, being overwhelmed, distractions and more. Most of us procrastinate, based on habits we formed as kids and teenagers.

But some people rarely procrastinate. It’s like finding a unicorn — they are beautiful and a little unbelievable! So when I find one, I interview them.

Here’s what I’ve found two habits of non-procrastinators are (and they’re habits I try to practice most of the time), plus a bonus habit that I’ve found to be useful:

1. Compassion for future self: This is the main one I’ve found to be true in non-procrastinators, and most of them do it without really thinking about it! They think about what would make their future selves happiest, or have the least amount of pain. Then they do that action. So simple right? Ha! 
2. Making the steps small & doable: This is a fairly common tip, but combined with the above habit, it’s a powerful one-two punch. Take any difficult task and make it smaller, easier, more doable. 
3. Bonus: fully open to the task: This is something I’ve added, that not every non-procrastinator does … but it works wonders. Instead of closing ourselves to the task, instead of wanting it to be over, you can open up to the task fully. 

Let’s look at each of these in a little more detail.
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Generally, high-energy people enjoy a competitive advantage, but if there’s one thing I learned while researching and writing my first book, it was how to get more done in less time. 

For my first five years as a self-employed writer, I passionately and excitedly burned the midnight oil, thinking the act would get me ahead. It certainly helped me cut my teeth and quicken my understanding of the craft, but in hindsight I spent much of that time with my head down. I was spinning my wheels in the mud, failing to see bigger ideas and opportunities.

That is until my “Montana Moment,” a life-changing and completely off-the-grid vacation in Big Sky Country that upended my relationship with work and improved it in more ways than one. Since that fateful week, I’ve enjoyed record personal, professional and social growth because I radically changed my underlying approaches to and motivations for work.
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You can too. Here are five tips to get you started. 

I’ve often been described as a “calm” person. I’m not sure if they really mean “boring,” but I’m happy to be calm most of the time.

When others are stressing out, I can help calm them down.

When things aren’t going well, I calmly take appropriate action instead of falling apart.

When things are falling apart, I can hold to the center. I can feel into the difficulty, and find the peace, the unshakable connection to everything around me.

I’m not saying that to brag, but in hopes that it will move others to try it as well.

If you’d like to be calm, to stress out less … I offer you this guide.
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A Calm Motto

I recently offered this motto to my 18-year-old daughter, when she was stressing out about a situation she was facing:

“No big deal.”

I told her, “Just remember NBD. No Big Deal.”

Remind yourself of this motto whenever things are going wrong, or someone is frustrating you, or you aren’t getting what you want. No big deal.

Of course, there are some things that are a big deal:

• Life & death or emergency situations
• When a loved one really needs your help

I’m sure there are other situations that are a big deal, but most of the time, it’s not as big a deal as we imagine. We add stress unnecessarily to the situation.

You have a million things to do an not enough time to do it all? Not a big deal: pick the things you can do, and get to work. That’s all you can do anyway, so it’s not worth adding some stress to the already difficult situation.

Have a huge task to do that is going to be very difficult? No big deal. Just take the first step. Just get moving. You’ll deal with the difficulty.

Plans fall apart? No big deal. Figure out a new alternative.

Someone unhappy with you? No big deal. See their pain, give them some compassion, take the appropriate action to help fix things or go on about your business if it can’t be fixed.

There’s another way to look at it, of course: everything is a big deal. What we do matters. And in this way, instead of just letting ourselves be distracted or taking things for granted, we can give the act in front of us our full attention and love.

That doesn’t mean we need to get upset or stressed out about our situation though: while the act in front of us is a big deal, the situation is not a big deal. Life goes on. And it is delightfully beautiful.
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​Calm Practices

When things are falling apart, when things don’t go your way, in addition to reminding yourself that things are No Big Deal … there are some practices you might try out:

1. Get in touch with the difficulty. We usually want to get away from the difficulty, to have the stress and pain end, to find peace. This usually results in greater difficulty and unhappiness with the situation. Instead, we can get in touch with the feeling of stress, with the pain or fear or anger or irritation that we’re feeling. That means dropping into the physical feeling in your body, which is nothing to panic about. It’s just a feeling in the present moment, and you can stay with it, with courage. This is a transformative practice, and I highly recommend you practice it as often as you can during the day.
2. Get bigger than yourself. When we’re stressed or frustrated, it’s because we’re trapped in our own small, self-centered point of view. We want what we want, and we are unhappy when we don’t get it. If we can get beyond this limited viewpoint, all of a sudden we have some spaciousness. Things don’t seem so closed in and dire. We can see the bigger picture, see things from other people’s viewpoints, see that there is more than just what we’re seeing and what we want. This bigger view is usually pretty calming. When you’re getting bothered, try stepping outside yourself and seeing things from the point of view of others, or a bird’s-eye view.
3. Connect with the peace at the center. After doing the above two practices, there’s a deeper one: find the place inside yourself that is completely at peace. It’s the center of the storm, where nothing is going crazy, where it feels like there’s an eternal truth — that you are deeply connected to everything else. This can take awhile to find, so practice. Once you find this unshakable connection, it doesn’t matter what’s happening around you — it’s there.

You can practice all of these, one after the other, or just pick one and practice it every day for a week or two. You’ll find calm. It will be exquisite.

​We’ve just started the third month of the year, and with the realisation that this year is slipping past us so quickly … I’m issuing a challenge to all of you.

My March Challenge is to pick one small change that will have a big impact on your life. One small change you can do every day. Then do it every single day, at the same time every day.

Small changes can add up to having a huge impact on our lives in a few ways:

1. They can lead to long-term change, even .
2. They can be expanded slowly to bigger changes.
3. Even if they aren’t expanded, they can make us feel healthier, more energetic, more mindful or calm, and so on … and that can spread to an impact in all other areas of our lives.
4. Better finances or health (for example) can lead to less stress, which can lead to us being more present, grounded and sane in our relationships, jobs and responsibilities.

So pick one small change that will have one or more of these effects on your life (or other great effects you might think of). Then commit to doing it every day for this month.

Some examples of small changes with big impacts:

So are you up for this challenge? Let me know on Twitter, then tell people you know that you’re doing it (get them to join you!) and update us all every week. Do a final review at the end of the month — how did it go? What did you learn? What got in the way? What success did you create? (Be sure to set a reminder each week and at the end of the month for these check-ins & reviews.)

Support for the Challenge

If you’d like to do the challenge with me and others, join my Sea Change Program … we’re doing it this month, and there are over 20 video courses in Sea Change to support your habit change.
We also have:

• Weekly check-ins
• A Facebook group where you can get support
• A live video webinar with me during the month
• Accountability groups if you’d like them

Try Sea Change for free for a week.

Research shows that exercise and sleep are the keys to getting more done. Seriously. Sounds counter-intuitive, but data speaks for itself. Productivity in the U.S. is at an all-time low. Many experts believe it is because we are drained, physically and intellectually, also known as “burnt out."

A 2016 workshop offered at the Harvard Medical School, “Now and Zen: How mindfulness can change your brain and improve your health," points to a variety of methods where nurturing and caring for one's brain can lead to improved health, and by extension, to higher business productivity.
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Here are five Zen-inspired methods you can adopt from research, to help you achieve new levels of business productivity and success.
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Prioritize Tasks

Leo Babauta, author of the Zen Habits blog, believes that small-business owners, as well as people in general, can successfully balance work and life. He says to state the three most important things that you want to get done each day. Drop the long list — you probably won't get it done by the end of the day, anyway. A simple list of three things can be empowering. Pick tasks that will make you feel like you've accomplished something when they're done.

​Forget Multi-Tasking; Single-Tasking Is The New Black

A study reported by the BBC claims that workers addicted to e-mail and phone calls suffer an IQ drop worse than marijuana users. In a Harvard Business Review article, “How and Why to Stop Multitasking" author Peter Bregman cites a study where “infomania is worse than marijuana." So, drop the multi-tasking and try what has worked for the most successful: Single Tasking. Stay focused on one important task at a time.
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Inbox Zero: Keep Your E-Mail Inbox Empty

Get your email inbox to zero and you will feel better and be able to focus on what truly matters.

This can be a huge challenge if you live in your inbox. If the messages just keep piling up, what should you do? Creating folders, filters and labels might work, but the Getting Things Done (GTD) system regarding email is to clear out your email inbox on a daily basis. The biggest tip is to avoid e-mail first thing in the morning. It is a black hole that will suck you in and consume your most productive time.

Avoid Social Media, Or Better, Any Media

The latest news from Facebook is that they recognize that their platform is addictive. No surprise. Social media can be valuable as a marketing tool, but it is also another these black holes that can suck you into a zone where you get very little valuable work done.

Many health and productivity experts suggest you try a Media Fast where you limit your overall media consumption. The recent documentary movie Screenagers, while focused on screen addiction for teenagers, also comments heavily on how parents (and many small business owners are also parents) are suffering addiction, too.

Work Fewer Hours

By reducing the number of hours in your workday, you will force yourself into high production mode for those limited hours. As an alternative, you can transition to a four-day workweek, but stick with an 8 to 10 hour day to get those 40 hours, if you must have 40, over a shorter duration.

In order to avoid burnout and turn your business into a success, take a Zen approach to get more done. Being mindful is at the core of each of these methods — it can take you to new levels of business productivity and success.

There are several ways to make a great first impression on someone you just met. Here are five proven strategies to get you started.

It’s a common thing to be frequently annoyed by other people — added to our regular interactions with family, friends and coworkers are the online habits of people on various social media, and they can all irritate the hell out of us.

What can we do when other people are being annoying, frustrating, inconsiderate, irritating, even aggravating?
Well, assuming we’re not in real danger and we don’t need to take action to protect ourselves … often the best practice is an internal shift rather than trying to change the other person’s behavior.

That suggestion in itself can be frustrating for some — why should we have to change our own behavior when it’s the other person who is being aggravating?

That’s because with one simple shift, you can be happy with any person. But if you try to change every other person, you’re just going to be miserable.
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This is illustrated by a metaphor from legendary Buddhist teacher Shantideva:

In this metaphor, imagine that the surface of the Earth were covered in shards of glass or some other sharp surface … you could try to find a covering for the whole world, so that you could walk in comfort … but you’d never be able to do it. Instead, just cover your own feet, and you can walk around just fine.

This is the idea of shifting your own mindset, so that you can deal with irritating people.
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Let’s look at a practice to work on that shift.

A Simple Practice

Whenever you find yourself irritated by how someone else is behaving … first notice that your mind starts to create a story of resentment about them. It’s about how they always act in this irritating way, or why do they have to be that way, or why are they so inconsiderate, etc.

This story isn’t helpful. It makes you unhappy, it worsens your relationship with others, it makes you a person you probably don’t want to be.

So the practice is to drop that story, and instead try this:

1. Recognize that you don’t like the way the person is behaving. You are not happy with your current experience. In this way, you are rejecting this part of reality, rejecting a part of life. Consider opening up to all of life, without rejecting.
2. Reflect on a river that flows downstream … imagine wishing it would flow upstream. It would just bring you unhappiness to wish that the river were different than it were. Now imagine that this other person is the river. Wishing they were different just brings unhappiness.
3. See them as they are and open your heart to them, just as they are. See them as a suffering human being, with flaws and habitual ways of acting that can be irritating, but are actually very human. How can you love humanity just as it is?

​Open up to all of life, without rejecting. Accept the river as it is. See the suffering human being in front of you, and love them fiercely, as they are.

See how it shifts you. And see how it opens you up to connecting to your fellow human beings, and the vast experience of life, just as it is.

You’ll wake up for about 25,000 mornings in your adult life, give or take a few.

According to a report from the World Health Organization, the average life expectancy in the United States is 79 years old. Most people in wealthy nations are hovering around the 80–year mark. Women in Japan are the highest, with an average life expectancy of 86 years.

If we use these average life expectancy numbers and assume that your adult life starts at 18 years old, then you’ve got about 68 years as an adult. (86 – 18 = 68) Perhaps a little less on average. A little more if you’re lucky.

(68 years as an adult) x (365 days each year) = 24,820 days.

25,000 mornings

That's what you get in your adult life. 25,000 times you get to open your eyes, face the day, and decide what to do next. I don't know about you, but I've let a lot of those mornings slip by.

Once I realized this, I started thinking about how I could develop a better morning routine. I still have a lot to learn, but here are some strategies that you can use to get the most out of your 25,000 mornings.

8 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Morning

Here are the strategies that I've found to be most effective for getting the most out of my morning.
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1. Manage your energy, not your time

25,000 Mornings: The Power of a Morning Routine

Just as it's rare for anyone to experience overnight success, it's also rare for our lives crumble to pieces in an instant. Most unproductive or unhealthy behaviors are the result of slow, gradual choices that add up to bad habits. A wasted morning here. An unproductive morning there.

The good news is that exceptional results are also the result of consistent daily choices. Nowhere is this more true than with your morning routine. The way you start your day is often the way that you finish it.
Take, for example, Jack LaLanne. He woke up each day at 4am and spent the first 90 minutes lifting weights.

Then, he went for a swim or a run for the next 30 minutes. For more than 60 years, he spent each morning doing this routine. In addition to being one of the most influential people in fitness in the last 100 years, LaLanne also lived to the ripe old age of 96.
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This is no coincidence. What you do each morning is an indicator of how you approach your entire day. It’s the choices that we repeatedly make that determine the life we live, the health we enjoy, and the work we create.
You’ve got 25,000 mornings. What will you do with each one?

The restaurant manager who speaks with poise and grace to the patron complaining loudly about the wait service. The levelheaded friend you call in your greatest times of need. The compassionate but composed rescue worker who aids victims after a natural catastrophe. The partner who angers rarely, forgives easily, and assumes accountability for their actions. The successful CEO who balances her profession, her family responsibilities, and her personal hobbies with equal measures of calm and confidence.

What do these people have in common?

In two words: Emotional Intelligence .

A relatively new trend in the realm of pop culture and psychology today, Emotional Inte lligence — or EQ — has existed since the beginning of time. According to Psychology Today, the preeminent site for mental health education and information, Emotional Intelligence is defined as an aptitude for identifying and managing emotions, and the emotions of others. It consists of three primary skills: the ability to analyze interior emotions and the feelings of those around them, the capacity to apply emotions to tasks, and the facility to take control of emotions — whether it’s managing their own before they veer out of control, or having the strength and capability to make another person smile, settle down, or handle a situation appropriately.

Those with high Emotional “IQs” have been proven to enjoy more prosperity in life. Whether they’re in a social or professional environment, they thrive. Studies demonstrate they have fewer mental health issues, including depression and anxiety. Their personal lives aren’t train wrecks, precisely because they’re lived from the point of thoughtful — and meaningful — decisions. They outperform others, excel at their jobs, are happy in their relationships, and consistently work towards attaining positive results in all aspects of life. So, the question is, what don’t they do?
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Here are 7 things emotionally intelligent people, as a rule, avoid:

Pay attention to what comes out of your mouth. The language you use affects how you experience your world, and how others experience you. Inevitably, things get "lost in translation."

If you're familiar with cognitive distortion or cognitive bias, these psychology terms teach us that there are subtle ways that our mind can convince us of something that isn't really true. These inaccurate thoughts are usually used to reinforce negative thinking or emotions, thus holding us back.

We all do this, both consciously and unconsciously, and how we do it provides pointers to our underlying beliefs about ourselves, our peers, partners and colleagues, and the immediate world around us.
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This could spell trouble. Which of these do you do? Check the areas below and be courageous enough to ask a trusted peer for perspective. Is it a problem?

Top 10 Cognitive Distortions

1.  All or nothing thinking:
​Seeing things as black-or-white, right-or-wrong, with nothing in between. Essentially, "if I'm not perfect then I'm a failure." Examples:

• "I didn't finish writing that proposal so it was a complete waste of time."
• "There's no point in playing in that golf tournament to raise money if I'm not 100 percent in shape."
• "The vendor didn't show, they're completely unreliable!"

2. Over-generalization:
Using words like "always" or "never" in relation to a single event or experience.

• "I'll never get that promotion."
• "She always does that...."

3. Minimizing or magnifying (also, catastrophizing):
Seeing things as dramatically more or less important than they actually are--which can often create a "catastrophe" that follows. Examples of such inner dialogue:

• "Because my boss publicly thanked her, she'll get that promotion, not me (even though I had a great performance review and just won a company award)."
• "I forgot that email! That means my boss won't trust me again, I won't get that raise, and my wife will hate me."

4. Using words like "should," "need to," "must," and "ought to" as motivation:
You may have a tendency to use such words to motivate yourself, then you feel guilty when you don't follow through (or get angry and resentful when someone else doesn't follow through). Examples of your inner dialogue:

• "I should have gotten the contract delivered last weekend."
• "They ought to have been more considerate of my feelings on this project, they should know that would upset me."

5. Labeling:
Attaching a negative label to yourself or others following a single event.

• "I didn't stand up to my co-worker, I'm such a wimp!"
• "What an idiot, he couldn't even see that coming!"

​6. Jumping to conclusions (mind-reading or fortune telling):
Making negative predictions about the future without evidence or factual support. Example:

• "I won't be able to pay my bills if I go on this vacation trip (even though there's plenty of money in savings)."
• "No one will understand. I won't be invited back again to speak (even though they are supportive community partners)."

7. Discounting the positive:
Not acknowledging the positive. Saying anyone could have done it or insisting that your positive actions, qualities, or achievements don't count. Like:

• "That doesn't count, anyone could have done it."
• "I've only cut back from smoking 40 cigarettes a day to 10. It doesn't count because I haven't fully given up yet."

8. Blame and personalization:
Blaming yourself when you weren't entirely responsible or blaming other people and denying your role in the situation. Examples:

• "If only I were younger, I would have gotten the job."
• "If only I hadn't said that, they wouldn't have...."
• "If only he hadn't yelled at me, I wouldn't have been angry and shot back."

9. Emotional reasoning:
I feel, therefore I am. Assuming that a feeling is true-- without digging deeper to see if this is accurate. Like:

• "I feel like such an idiot (it must be true)."
• "I feel guilty (I must have done something wrong)."
• "I feel really bad for yelling at my partner, I must be really selfish and inconsiderate."

10. Mental filter:
Allowing (dwelling on) one negative detail or fact to spoil your enjoyment, happiness, hope, etc. Example:

• You have a great evening and dinner at a restaurant with friends, but your chicken was undercooked and that spoiled the whole evening.