From the Harvard Business Review blog network, Tony Schwartz discusses multi-tasking, anxiety, creativity, and pacing in Four Destructive Myths Most Companies Still Live By. You’ll find much in this concise piece to discuss, debate, and perhaps apply.
On multi-tasking:
“The worst thing you can do as a boss is to insist that your people constantly check their email.”
On anxiety:
“Put bluntly, any time your behavior increases someone’s anxiety — or prompts any negative emotions, for that matter — they’re less likely to perform effectively.”
On creativity:
“As it turns out, the creative process moves back and forth between left and right hemisphere dominance. Creativity is actually about using the whole brain more flexibly.”
On pacing:
“Rather than systematically burning down our reservoir of energy as the day wears on, as most of us do, intermittent renewal makes it possible to keep our energy steady all day long. Strategically alternating periods of intense focus with intermittent renewal, at least every 90 minutes, makes it possible to get more done, in less time, more sustainably.”