Even at a time when so much is beyond our control, we remain in control of our own speech patterns. And so, as leaders and employees continue to rethink what the modern workplace should look like, including how we gather, perhaps it’s an opportune moment to banish certain phrases from the “meeting-speak” lexicon. To learn what refrains others would be happy to never hear again in a meeting, I did a bit of crowdsourcing on social media and among colleagues. Here are some of the responses that resonated the most.

Get a grip on your "meeting-speak!"

Often among the first words uttered by an online meeting host, this practice dishonors the time of those who joined on time and does nothing to establish a culture of punctuality for meetings. At the same time, there are legitimate reasons why an individual may be late to a Zoom meeting (or an in-person one). You might rather start with brief tone-setting exercises. Try asking everyone to remove one distraction, or asking everyone to write down their intention or objective for the meeting.

We’re going to wait five minutes for everyone to join.

To be sure, these words quickly signal that a speaker needs to click the unmute button. But the phrase has become notoriously grating. It also makes the person on the receiving end of the comment feel silly, as though they still don’t know how to locate the mic button. A more affirmative alternative might be something along the lines of, “If you’re speaking, I can’t hear you.” Instead of making the silent speaker feel silly, this reframing shows them that you truly want to hear what it is they have to say.

You’re on mute.

If that’s the case, your plane will crash! Many of us have heard this metaphor in many a meeting. But what is the speaker actually saying about the initiative being described? Is it flying at so quick a speed that we can’t be expected to understand or question its flaws? Is this turn of phrase an excuse for haphazard execution? Perhaps we can be more specific by identifying the pieces of the project that we’ve figured out, what we’re still working on, what we don’t know yet, and how we plan to make adjustments based on what we learn.

We’re building the plane while flying it.

Without a clear, quick mention of how and when this “offline” conversation will take place, this is a jargony way to dismiss someone’s idea and put them off indefinitely. And since any meaningful follow-up will likely take place online , it also no longer makes sense. Why not go with something like this: “That’s an important topic that’s beyond the scope of this meeting. I’ll email you when we wrap up.”

Let’s take this offline.

The next time you find yourself tempted to offer your teammates a few precious “minutes of their life back,” consider saying, “Wow. Because everyone was so productive, we’re done 10 minutes early. Thank you so much for your presence and participation. Have a great day.” This simple rephrasing has the power to reframe your work.

Wrapping Things Up. 

I started out reading this and thought, Wow! This really hits the nail on the head when it comes to pretentious assholes at work who we all have to bear at some time. But soon realized that I'm also guilty of using, in one form of another, the meeting-speak the author pointed out. 

“I’m going to give you 10 minutes of your life back,” and other unbearable meeting jargon.

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Remote Work

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Corporate Culture

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Communication

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Time Management

teamwork

Teamwork

Please Stop Using These Phrases in Meetings

Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary

A lack of sleep leads to brain fog, low energy, irritability, and forgetfulness.A few of the actionable sleep tips:<ul><li>Exercise more</li><li>Make your bedroom a sleep sanctuary</li><li>Put screens away at least 90 minutes before going to bed </li><li>Stop consuming caffeine after 15:00</li></ul>

Sleep Smarter — Shawn Stevenson

Less stuff. Fewer demands. Fewer obligations.Most people are too busy with things that don’t matter much. They major in minor things. They waste their money on stuff they don’t need, waste their time on trivial tasks that don’t matter, and waste their energy worrying about the opinions of people they don’t even like.

The Power of Less — Leo Babauta

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

It is for anyone looking to improve their finances and build real wealth. You’ll see how the average millionaire truly thinks and acts — not how the media portraits them.<ul><li>80% of millionaires are first-generation self-made millionaires</li><li>Most don’t acquire any luxury items to show their status </li><li>Most live below their means so they can save and invest</li></ul>

The Millionaire Next Door — Thomas J. Stanley

It contains an incredible amount of wisdom on topics like wealth, health, mental strength, habits, and happiness. “You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking.”

Meditations — Marcus Aurelius

The War of Art is one of the best books on defeating procrastination.“The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.”“I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately, it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.”“The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome."

The War of Art — Steven Pressfield

Books contain a wealth of knowledge, broaden our perspectives, and help us develop into wiser individuals. Reading is truly a shortcut to success since you can learn essential life lessons from the…

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

health

Health

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

5 Books I’ll Re-Read In 2022 Because They’re Too Important Not To

<ol><li>Focus on one realistic goal at a time</li><li>If you miss out on a day, get back on track as soon as possible</li><li>Keep going and Never Give Up, even if you don't feel like</li><li>Don't self-doubt until you achieve your goal</li><li>Track your improvements</li></ol>Consistency beats Hard work beats Talent

How to be Consistent

Water is a lot weaker than stone, but consistently flowing over, it can cut the stone. This is the power of consistency. These tips will help you become consistent in whatever you and improve.

My friend laughs at me whenever we walk into a restaurant because the waiter will walk over, smile, and ask, “Same same?” My productivity is predicated on consistency. If I break out of my routine…

productivity

Productivity

habits

Habits

How to Be Outrageously Consistent | 7 Tips to Be Consistently Consistent

The tasks you tackle at the very end of the day may play an outsize role in helping you unplug.Psychologically detaching from work is one of the best ways to reduce after-hours stress and all its harms, including burnout. This means not only refraining from performing job-related tasks, but also mentally disconnecting from the job during non-work time.

The importance of how you end your day

Your brain struggles to let go of unfinished business. Incomplete tasks have a unique ability to continue capturing attention.This is usually useful but can be problematic in the context of work-related stress and burnout. Many of our jobs force us to juggle a variety of tasks that take days, weeks, or months to complete.And all of these loose ends have the potential to distract us during leisure time.

The problem with unfinished tasks

Taking a few minutes at the very end of the day to map out how you’ll tackle any ongoing tasks or commitments is a great way to facilitate detachment.
Making a plan for where, when, and how the task will be completed seems to reduce the urgency in our brains that naturally presses for completing goals. In this case, a plan is a reasonable substitute for actually completing the goal.

Thinking about ongoing tasks

Knocking out simple, completable tasks at the end of the workday — and avoiding complicated ones — is another good way to psychologically disconnect.If you finish the day by tackling something complex and unfinishable, this creates “oose ends that have the potential to continue distracting us during leisure time. You’re better off working on these earlier in the day, and reserving the easy stuff for your final hour or two of work.

Finish the small tasks

Don’t make checking your inbox the last thing you do each day.
This is the opposite of detachment. If there is nothing to attend to in your inbox, checking email is a small waste of time. If there is something urgent, a new task has now been activated in your mind, which will press for completion.

Don't check your email

Betty White, who died New Year’s Eve at the age of 99, liked to drink a vodka on the rocks every night before dinner. According to the Financial Times, White often credited both her longevity and her…

career

Career

The Best Way to End Your Workday

If you love what you do, it’s all too easy for it to consume your identity—especially if your career is demanding and fast-paced. You find yourself checking email after hours, and thinking about work all the time.For many people work—and overwork—is comfortable. What isn’t comfortable is what resides outside the office walls. Because inside there are clear-cut steps, structures, systems, and goals, while other areas of life don’t adhere to a rulebook.

Our identity outside of work

If you can’t find anything they’re interested in outside of work, explore your city without any agenda. The only rule is to pay attention to what piques your interest. Because that’ll likely point you in the right direction.After you’ve gathered some data on what you might be curious about, give yourself several months to explore these interests.Don’t be surprised if you feel some discomfort. You might be used to being in charge and being seasoned at work. Try to embrace the unfamiliar, and focus on the process.

Wander your city

<ul><li>Many people don’t have strict boundaries between work and home. In other words, our home is no longer the place we exclusively relax and leave work behind.</li><li>Boundaries are critical when you’re just starting your career, too. You might be tempted to work long hours and be available to your clients all the time. However, it’s best to set boundaries right away. </li><li>Other examples of boundaries include: not responding to work-related matters on weekends, and requesting another team member if you’re feeling overworked or overburdened.</li></ul>

Set boundaries

<ul><li>Reflect on the activities and hobbies that you loved as a child, teen, or young adult. Then carve out time to practice them. </li><li>When someone’s work-life takes precedence, their personal relationships often start to suffer. This is why is recommended to refocus on your relationships with a partner, kids, friends, and family. Spend quality time with them. Have real conversations without interruption.</li></ul>

Revisit old hobbies and relationships

We have to intentionally create space for our true selves to emerge, which means holding time for ourselves to just be. This is also a helpful way to practice tolerating discomfort.You might spend 20 minutes in the morning drinking your coffee or tea, without any digital devices, or spend Sunday afternoons by yourself. Notice what thoughts and feelings arise. Where does your mind go when there’s no task or structure?

Create space to just be

Check out local meet-up groups, spiritual centers, or adult sports teams. Think about other places around potential passions, such as book clubs, art clubs, and non-profit organizations. Experiment with new experiences. Even if you end up not enjoying an experience, that’s still important information.

Meet like-minded people

If you love what you do, it’s all-too easy for it to consume your identity—especially if your career is de

How to Figure Out Who You Are Outside of Work

Be intentional at the start of each day Spend the first few hours of each day (mornings) to plan your day. All that is essential to making your day productive should be high on the list of your day's activities.

4 Ways to make the most of your 24 hours 

Don't shoot for doing more, do what matters While planning aim for high productive activities and not just populate your to-do list with a bunch of irrelevant activities. Ensure the best of what would improve your self-esteem and self-improvement.

Create moments of transcendenceTranscendence simply means "extending or lying beyond the limits of ordinary experience". Making each activity an elevated experience, a sacred moment, something special, eliminates the tendency of making that activity feel mundane and dull. This is achievable through practice in your everyday life.

End with a gratitude heart reflection Making it a point to round off your day with a grateful moment of having the opportunity to go through the whole 24 hours achieving all or some of your activities brings a sense of accomplishment and looking forward to repeating it the next day.

Never waste time on irrelevant things and miss the beauty of life, invariably improving the quality of time spent.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

Beauty of life 

Here is the snippet from Mr. Feynman's interviewWeiner: (Referring to Feynman’s journals) And so this represents the record of the day-to-day work.Feynman: I actually did the work on the paper.Weiner: That s right. It wasn’t a record of what you had done but it is the work.Feynman: It’s the doing it — it’s the scrap paper. Weiner: Well, the work was done in your head but the record of it is still here.Feynman: No, it’s not a record, not really, it’s working. You have to work on paper and this is the paper. OK?

Writing is Thinking?

Brain is really good at removing content it feel is not required. And how it knows it is required. Repetition, remember spaced repetition. Following the forgetting curve we can solidify knowledge. But knowledge is more than that, we are pattern seekers. We build patterns, repeat it until we know the underlying pattern and brain becomes effective in executing the pattern. Compare the day you started learning to drive to post your learning curve. If you play any musical instrument go back to day one and today.

Information Vs knowledge

Remember old movies had guns with only chamber to fire the bullet, Someone who was working on ships came back and thought merging the steering wheels and guns, And voila Colt revolver. Cars where made before Ford, but Ford came in and brought assembly line with him. Phone were made before hand, touch based devices where there but iPhone came in and replace the dial pad with screen. What came in play in all of these one domains or fields knowledge was taken and applied to other. “Interleaving”.

Interleaving Of Ideas 

How to take smart notes — Book revolves around Niklas Luhmann who wrote enormous amount of papers humanely impossible and how he did it.His method was simple, writing notes or knowledge chunks. Traditionally we structure knowledge in folders -> Biology -> Stomach -> Gut -> BacteriaBut his method was writing a note on just bacteria a very small note and float it as a independent knowledge node on th graph.

Zettlekesten 

Two things have happened here. First storage of knowledge in chunks. Breaking down of a big concept in smallest concept form. Second is building an interconnected graphs and exposure of the concept in multiple fields. When you sit back and go through the notes. Stages of a Note <ul><li>Fleeting notes : Quick jot of the content </li><li>Literature notes : Detailed, from where we picked and why and what are the thoughts. </li><li>Permanent notes — Moving here and making the required trails, what are your thoughts </li> </ul>

Knowledge Graph

Some people are blessed. They can remember stuff any day, “ Hey who was that character in that anime?” “GojousSan” Oh ,yes. When was the due date for this ? 10 days back fook. Meanwhile me, “What is…

writing

Reading & Writing

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Problem Solving

Un-offical Guide on “How to Build a Second Brain?”

Scattered Focus is when you are trying to switch between tasks at a time, trying to multitask. Directed Focus means focusing on just one thing at a time.How to Avoid Scattered Focus?<ol><li>Remove all distractions</li><li>Use the Pomodoro technique and Take frequent breaks</li><li>Get proper sleep, Stay hydrated, and exercise</li><li>Start improving concentration even for as less as 5 minutes a day</li><li>Make a daily routine </li></ol>Our brain is extremely bad at switching between tasks. Concentration is like a muscle, the more you train it, the more it improves.

Why you can't Focus - And How to Fix that

You have a limited stock of energy, utilize it the right way and see the benefits. Focus on one thing and be the best at it, rather than focusing on a lot of things and never really achieving them.

The ability to focus is almost like a superpower, and the individuals who can focus get so much more done. There are many areas where you can benefit from better concentration, for example, school…

How to Fix Your Focus

Creating a plan for your morning the night before will help you actually follow through the next day and is one of the most important ways to make your mornings more productive. You can keep this note in your head, or jot it down on your phone, planner or even just a piece of paper before laying down for the night. Try incorporating something you enjoy into your morning plan. Perhaps that is treating yourself to your favorite new coffee blend, food (my favorite right now is overnight oats with protein powder) or time for a morning meditation.

1. A plan

The best way to activate your body’s natural alarm clock is to incorporate natural light into your morning routine. Sunlight activates your body’s circadian rhythm and tells your system it’s time to wake up. Once you set this biological process in motion it can be hard to roll it back, making it more likely you’ll actually get out of bed and get your morning started.You can leave a window open to allow natural light to stream into your room as the sun rises. Or, you can make an effort to venture outside to soak up some rays before starting with any difficult tasks.

2. Natural light

Over 40% of adults in the U.S. are vitamin D deficient. Natural sunlight is the best way to curb deficiencies, but a vitamin D supplement is also a good way to improve vitamin D levels, especially during the winter months or when you spend most of your day cooped up in an office.Vitamin D deficiency leads to fatigue, among a host of other side effects, which can negatively affect your productivity in the morning and the rest of the day. Taking Vitamin D, along with a daily dose of sunlight, is one way to help combat fatigue and become the best version of yourself in the morning

3. Vitamin D

Getting your blood flowing early in the morning is another way to physically tell your body it is time to wake up. Incorporating physical activity into your morning routine will help you feel alert more quickly. For some, a morning commute will do the trick. Try biking to work, or take the stairs instead of the elevator. These simple changes will get your day started and give you an early morning boost of energy.

4. A morning walk 

Consistency is the key to success. It’s especially true with your morning routine. Wake up at around the same time each day to condition your body to naturally wake up at that time. This can make waking up early less painful the longer you keep up the habit. Our circadian rhythm thrives off of consistency, so try to stay on track with your sleep schedule even on the weekends.

5. Consistency

Blue light is not good for your sleep cycle. Social media is usually not good for your productivity. Set your phone aside at least an hour before closing your eyes for bed. Instead, try reading a book, stretching or listening to a podcast. It also might be worth investing in some blue light glasses to help mitigate the harmful effects of the light from our devices. In the morning, try to resist the urge to instantly grab your phone and check your email. Give yourself space to ease your way into the day and ditch your phone for the first precious few moments.

6. Time to unplug

A good bedtime ritual is just as important as a morning routine and should go hand in hand with your resolution to have more productive mornings. I've met entrepreneurs who write down what they are grateful for in a journal just before bed. They claim this leads them think about those same things they're thankful for first thing in the morning when they wake. If that's not a welcome addition to a morning routine, then nothing is.

7. Sleep

If productivity is what you're after, then a little self-care will be the biggest step you can take to get more done and feel great while doing it.

7 Things to Add to Make Your Morning Routine More Productive in 2022

Accepting our mortality helps us let go of busyness and focus on what’s most important to us in order to live a happier, more meaningful life.
The average human lifespan is absurdly, terrifyingly finite. If you’re lucky and you live to 80, you will have lived about 4,000 weeks. This truth, which most of us ignore most of the time, is something to wrestle with if we want to spend our limited time on this earth well.

Limited Time On This Planet

Time management, broadly defined, should be everyone’s chief concern. Yet the modern discipline of time management (or productivity) is depressingly narrow-minded, focused on devising the perfect morning routine or trying to crank through as many tasks as possible, while investing all your energy on reaching some later state of well-being and accomplishment.
It ignores the fact that the world is bursting with wonder — and that experiencing more of that wonder may come at the cost of productivity.

The Value Of Time

Part of that embrace of limitation involves facing the anxiety that comes with acknowledging mortality. When we recognize the shortness of life — and accept the fact that some things have to be left unaccomplished, whether we like it or not — we are freer to focus on what matters. 
Rather than succumbing to the mentality of “better, faster, more,” we can embrace being imperfect, and be happier for it.

Embracing The Limitation

We all need to make tough choices about what we can realistically get done, so that we can prioritize the activities that matter most, instead of reacting to a constant barrage of demands.One way is to keep two to-do lists — one for everything on your plate, and one for the 10 or fewer things that you’re currently working on. Fill up the 10 slots on the second list with items from the first, then set to work. The rule is not to move any further items from the first list onto the second until you’ve freed up a slot by finishing one of the 10 items.

A Fixed-Volume Approach To Productivity

Focus only on one big project at a time. Though it’s alluring to try to alleviate the anxiety of having too many responsibilities or ambitions by getting started on them all at once, you’ll make little progress that way.
Multitasking rarely works well — and you’ll soon find that serializing helps you to complete more projects anyway, thereby helping relieve your anxiety.

Serialize

You’ll inevitably underachieve at something, simply because your time and energy are finite. But strategic underachievement — nominating in advance the areas of your life in which you won’t expect excellence — helps you focus your time and energy more effectively.To live this way is to replace the high-pressure quest for work-life balance with something more reasonable — a deliberate kind of imbalance.

Fail In A Planned Way

Since the quest to get everything done is interminable by definition, it’s easy to grow despondent and self-reproachful when you can’t get through your whole to-do list. 
One counter-strategy is to keep a “done list,” which starts empty first thing in the morning, but which you can gradually fill in throughout the day as you get things done. It’s a cheering reminder that you could have spent the day doing nothing remotely constructive … yet you didn’t.

Focus On What You Have Completed

Social media is a giant machine for getting you to spend your time caring about the wrong things — and too many of them at once. We’re exposed to an unending stream of atrocities and injustices, each of which might have a legitimate claim on our time and our charitable donations, but which add up to something no human could ever effectively address comprehensively.Once you grasp that fact fully, it’s good to consciously pick your battles in charity, activism, and politics — and devote your s

Limit What You Care About

Digital distractions allow us to escape to a realm where painful human limitations don’t seem to apply — scrolling idly around online, you need never feel bored or constrained in your freedom of action, which isn’t the case when it comes to doing work that matters.You can combat this by making your devices as boring as possible, removing social media apps and, if you dare, email. It’s also helpful to choose devices with only one purpose, such as the Kindle reader. Otherwise, temptations will be only a swipe away, and you’ll feel the urge to check your screens anytime you’re bored.

Make Your Device Boring

Time seems to speed up as we age, likely because our brains encode the passage of years based on how much information we process in any given interval. While children have many novel experiences and time seems slower to them, the routinization of older people’s lives means that time seems to pass at an ever-increasing rate.The standard advice is to combat this by cramming more novel experiences into your life. That can help, but it’s not always practical.An alternative is to pay more attention to every moment, however mundane — to find novelty by plunging more deeply into your present life.

Find Novelty In Everyday Stuff

The desire to feel in control of our limited time causes numerous problems in relationships, resulting not only in controlling behaviour, but also commitment-phobia, the inability to listen, boredom, and missing out on the richness of communal experiences with others.When faced with a challenging or boring moment in a relationship, try being curious about the person you’re with, rather than controlling. Curiosity is a stance well-suited to the inherent unpredictability of life with others, because it can be satisfied by their behaving in ways you like or dislike.

Be Curious In Relationships, Not Demanding Or Controlling

Whenever a generous impulse arises in your mind, give in to it right away rather than putting it off. 
Don’t wait to figure out if the recipient deserves your generosity or if you really have the time to be generous right now (with all of the work you have left to do!). Just do it. The rewards are immediate, too, because generous action reliably makes you feel much happier.

Cultivate Instantaneous Generosity

When it comes to the challenge of using your 4,000 weeks well, the capacity to do nothing is indispensable, because if you can’t bear the discomfort of not acting, you’re far more likely to make poor choices with your time, such as attempting to hurry activities that can’t be rushed or feeling you ought to spend every moment being “productive,” regardless of whether the tasks in question really matter.You can try the “do-nothing” meditation, where you set a timer for 5-10 minutes and then try doing nothing.

Practice Doing Nothing

The average human lifespan is absurdly, terrifyingly finite. If you’re lucky and you live to 80, you will have lived about 4,000 weeks. Here's some advice to help you learn how to use that time well, from writer Oliver Burkeman.

10 ways to get the most out of your time on this planet

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