Jocelyn K.Glei

Genius is 1 percent inspiration, and 99 percent perspiration.”

While no workplace is perfect, it turns out that our gravest challenges are a lot more primal and personal.

Paradoxically, you hold both the problem and the solution to your day-to-day challenges. No matter where you work or what horrible top-down systems plague your work, your mind and energy are yours and yours alone. You can surrender your day-to-day and the potential of your work to the burdens that surround you. Or, you can audit the way you work and own the responsibility of fixing it

Notice when you seem to have the most energy during the day, and dedicate those valuable periods to your most important creative work. Never book a meeting during this time if you can help it. And don’t waste any of it on administrative work!

A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules

hen you work regularly, inspiration strikes regularly.

Progress is reassuring and inspiring; panic and then despair set in when you find yourself getting nothing done day after day

Start with small blocks of focused time and then gradually work yourself up to longer durations. A good rule of thumb is to begin with an hour at a time, then add fifteen minutes to each session every two weeks. The key, however, is to never allow distraction. If you give in and quickly check Facebook, cancel the whole block and try again later. Your mind can never come to believe that even a little bit of distraction is okay during these blocks.

research has shown that the unfinished morning task could linger in your mind like a mental itch, adversely affecting your performance later on—an effect that psychologists call “attentional residue”