Tag: “Work & Life”

Principles and rules can be understood in different ways, so in this article I will refer to principles as “fundamental ideas that govern someone’s thought or behavior”, and to rules as “that which must be complied with because it has been agreed within a community.”

I don’t know if everyone is able to feel it, but happiness at work exists. Most of us have experienced what Mihály Csíkszentmihályi calls a state of flow, a time when you’re absorbed in your creativity and feel a great satisfaction developing your work. Even if you are working, those moments of happiness are perfectly comparable to those you spend with your family and friends.

Personal productivity is mainly a matter of habits. That’s why when the wrong habits are installed in your brain for too much time, nothing works. No matter the method, tricks and support tools that you use. The first few weeks everything seems great, but old habits suddenly impose again and chaos reigns again.

The other day I met a friend for coffee. When we finished our coffees, we decided to go for a walk and continue the conversation for a little longer. Bad idea. The sun was blazing hot; the temperature 30ºC. I said goodbye and went home to continue the work I had planned to do that evening. Impossible. It took less than five minutes to realize that the increasingly intense headache caused by the sunstroke would not allow me to concentrate on what I had to do for a good while.

Being productive while you’re traveling is not easy, for many reasons: you have limited resources, you have irregular schedules, you eat differently, you usually sleep worse, you do little exercise, you are away from your loved ones, you have more stress, etc.