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If you're like many of my clients prior to them seeing me, you might have a hard time getting started with projects and completing tasks. Maybe you do everything but what you need to be doing. Perhaps you watch TV instead of cleaning your house. You socialize instead of finishing a work project, or surf the Internet instead of writing that business plan you've been meaning to do for the longest time.

You essentially avoid that which you deem to be uncomfortable. It’s an adaptive response to stress, fear, and anxiety. The problem with this tactic is, by putting off an important task, it ultimately leads to more stress, greater fear, more anxiety — and of course not completing the task.

This procrastination can lead to feelings of guilt, inadequacy, and depression — all of which can kill motivation and creativity and perpetuate the unproductive cycle. Poor time management, feeling overwhelmed, unrealistic standards, or just plain laziness are a few possible reasons for procrastination.

Via The Learning Factor

You probably don't need research to tell you that people are feeling more and more overwhelmed and overscheduled, but if anecdotal evidence isn't enough to make this clear, studies do exist. Americans tell pollsters they struggle to find work-life balance and generally feel like they spend their days on a slightly too fast treadmill scurrying to catch up.

But no worries--this problem has an obvious solution, right? All we need is better time management--get more done, choose and batch tasks more wisely, keep tabs on our to-do list more carefully, etc.

That seems reasonable but it's totally wrong, according to a fascinating article by business psychologist Tony Crabbe that appeared on Quartz recently. The in-depth piece looks at the history of the relationship between work and time (hint: we weren't always so clock obsessed) and goes on to argue that, as we've misdiagnosed what ails us, the prescribed treatment--time management--is actually making our problems worse.

"Time management, we believe, is the solution to our busyness: if we could organize our time better, we'd be less overwhelmed, happier, and more effective. We are completely wrong on all three counts, and it's damaging our lives and our careers," Crabbe writes.

Via The Learning Factor

One of the biggest challenges that we all face is the steadily increasing number of things that we have to do on a daily basis. There is nothing new about this but many people struggle with a sense of daily frustration simply because they can't get everything done and in all likelihood they never will.

At the end of the day, when you look at your to do list, and start the afternoon "I'm not good enough" session, beating yourself up because you didn't get everything done, try making a new list.

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Something Lou Gerstner, former CEO of IBM, once said has stuck in my head: "Never let anyone own your schedule." It's simple and obvious, yet genius.

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Time is money.

It's the one asset that we are all given each and every day. Yet many of us find it slips away so easily.

What can you really do to make better use of your time? The solution may be easier than you think. We tend to have the mindset that we have to do more to get more, but that's not always the case. There are many different ways you can manage yourself and your time in order to approach tasks with more efficiency.

By making slight tweaks to your behavior and the way you handle responsibilities, you can actually grow your business without simultaneously expanding your workload. Here are five simple ways to work smarter, not harder.

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I'm always surprised when people ask me about how to manage their time.

"This time management of which you speak, what is that?" I joke.

Well, sort of. It's not really a joke, because I don't really manage my time. I manage my stress. Time management is something they teach you in bookkeeping class in college. Life teaches you to manage stress loads like you are putting weights on a scale. Overload yourself, and you won't have enough time to finish anything. Manage your stress and you will suddenly have enough time to get it all done. Here's how:

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When it comes to many of the people who we think are hardworking, we're really just misinformed. For instance, it is a common thought that people who work late are hardworking. Why? Because the assumption is that they have so much work to do that they must burn the midnight oil to get it done. Another example is when we see people who always seem like they are busy all the time. Again, they have taken on so much work that they must work all the time.

In truth, most of these "hard workers" are just inefficient. Look closely and you'll see they use these methods to produce the same results as everybody else. And while it can be argued that these people are disciplined because of their work ethic, more of a focus should be put on productivity. And to produce more results, you don't have to work longer, just smarter.

Via The Learning Factor

Wasting time can be a great thing. Taking breaks and indulging in distractions gives your body and brain a chance to refresh and actually increases your output over the long haul. Study after study proves this.

The problem isn't when you decide to kick back. The problem is when you waste time without even realizing that's what you're doing. Spinning your wheels--engaging in pointless activities that don't help you move your company or your life forward--eats through your mental resources, frustrates your need for accomplishment, and is generally a short and sure route to burnout.

So what are these insidious activities that feel potentially important but are actually pretty worthless? The Web offers plenty of thoughtful suggestions, from the false productivity hack (that actually costs you time) to various forms of vanity and emotional drama that simply sap your energy. Here's a roundup.

Via The Learning Factor