Author Dan Pink just sent out his email newsletter in which he recommended the book Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Brain. I can’t link to the newsletter here, but Pink recommends the book largely because of these four insights. I can’t imagine any student or counselor who would not benefit from trying them.
*The single most important change you can make in your working habits is to switch to creative work first, reactive work second. This means blocking off a large chunk of time every day for creative work on your own priorities, with the phone and e-mail off.
*Book time on your calendar for uninterrupted, focused work—and respect those blocks of time as you would any client meeting.
*It’s better to disappoint a few people over small things than to surrender your dreams for an empty inbox. Otherwise you’re sacrificing your potential for the illusion of professionalism.
*What I do every day matters more than what I do once in a while.