Worn Out On the Way to Great Thoughts: Dealing with Overwork, Overwhelm, and MDD

Worn Out On the Way to Great Thoughts: Dealing with Overwork, Overwhelm, and MDD by Laura Stack #productivity

"Man was made at the end of the week, when God was tired." Victorian novelist George Eliot once wryly noted, "It is very difficult to be learned; it seems as if people were worn out on the way to great thoughts, and can never enjoy them because they are too tired." No doubt she was poking fun at the celebrities and politicians of the day, for she had a keen eye for politics and social intrigue, and an astute knowledge of the tendencies of her fellow Britons. I say "she" and "her" because despite her penname, Eliot was actually Mary Anne Evans, a woman who dared write serious novels in a period where most women limited themselves to bucolic romances. Lacking a formal education, she read widely and was heavily influenced by the Greek classics and philosopher Baruch Spinoza. She … [Read more...]

How to Determine How Much Work is Enough Each Day: What is the Limit to Your Productivity?

"Too much work and too much energy kill a man just as effectively as too much assorted vice or too much drink." -- Rudyard Kipling, British author. "Don't smoke too much, drink too much, eat too much, or work too much. We're all on the road to the grave—but there's no need to be in the passing lane." -- Robert Orben, American humorist. Recently, I held a public seminar where one of the participants posed an interesting question to me in the Q&A section: “Laura, how much work is enough? I could work 16 hours a day, but I'm not sure when to stop! What is a good gauge?” What a great question! One of the audience members said (only half-jokingly), "I stop when I finish my to-do list or can't stay awake any longer." In my case, it depends: I work constantly and consistently when I travel … [Read more...]