Deep focus doesn't happen because you decided to concentrate harder. It happens because you set the right conditions. Your environment, your mindset, and your energy level all either support focused work or work against it. Most focus advice stops at removing distractions. That's necessary but not sufficient. Why it matters: Missing even one of the three attention anchors means the other two carry more weight than they should Without intentional conditions, deep work gets replaced by the...

Mountains, karaoke, and the Hope Diamond Last week, Kevin and I joined my parents, siblings, and two nieces in Asheville, North Carolina, one of my favorite cities in the country, for our first family vacation since I was a kid. We hiked Catawba Falls with my mom (which included 535 steep steps), roasted s'mores, sang karaoke (for the record, "Islands in the Stream" and "Blame It on the Rain" are much harder than they sound...), played games, and took a ghost tour. Did you know the Hope...

How many of you feel like you are Siri or Alexa to your team? If they reach out, you must respond immediately. And if you reach out to someone and it's been 32 seconds, what's taking them so long? Why it matters: Instant replies train your team to expect them, which means you've made yourself their Siri permanently. Constant urgency raises cortisol, which compromises decision-making. Nobody solves the big problem over emails. Sometimes, waiting to respond is the most developmental thing you...