The Original Unstuck Box®

Van Halen's David Lee Roth famously insisted that no brown M&Ms be allowed backstage. This wasn't a ludicrous rockstar request, but a simple test: brown M&Ms told Roth the venue hadn't read the technical contracts. Set your own tripwires to force a decision or change perspective.

Eisenhower's secret to success? "The most urgent decisions are rarely the most important ones." The Eisenhower Matrix requires a 2x2 grid with four categories of work: "urgent and important", "important, but not urgent", "urgent but not important" and "not important and not urgent".

Warren Buffett advocates understanding our circle of competence when investing. We tend to overestimate what we know – and as we stray outside our circle, we make more mistakes. If you want to be successful, pick a circle of competence, and operate inside it.

Hanlon's Razor reminds us that a malicious world is not, in fact, out to get us. Our suffering is more likely due to someone else's incompetence, ignorance or neglect. If we accept that even the smartest people make mistakes, an assumption of malicious intent can worsen the problem.

What if we could predict failure before we started? If we spend time envisioning potential failures, we can find the pitfalls earlier. Next time you dream of a fantastic outcome, take the time to consider what could derail it. You might find it brings your dreams closer.

Parkinson's Law tells us that work expands to fill available time. To increase personal productivity, you can invert it. Half the amount of time you think a task might take, and try to beat the clock. You'll almost always do it faster than having set yourself a 'reasonable' deadline.

Chemical reactions need activation energy to begin. You can't set wood on fire without applying some heat, no matter how hard you look at it! This is why some things are so hard to get started. Use this concept to consider what energy you should apply to get something moving.

Van Halen's David Lee Roth famously insisted that no brown M&Ms be allowed backstage. This wasn't a ludicrous rockstar request, but a simple test: brown M&Ms told Roth the venue hadn't read the technical contracts. Set your own tripwires to force a decision or change perspective.

Eisenhower's secret to success? "The most urgent decisions are rarely the most important ones." The Eisenhower Matrix requires a 2x2 grid with four categories of work: "urgent and important", "important, but not urgent", "urgent but not important" and "not important and not urgent".

Warren Buffett advocates understanding our circle of competence when investing. We tend to overestimate what we know – and as we stray outside our circle, we make more mistakes. If you want to be successful, pick a circle of competence, and operate inside it.

Hanlon's Razor reminds us that a malicious world is not, in fact, out to get us. Our suffering is more likely due to someone else's incompetence, ignorance or neglect. If we accept that even the smartest people make mistakes, an assumption of malicious intent can worsen the problem.

What if we could predict failure before we started? If we spend time envisioning potential failures, we can find the pitfalls earlier. Next time you dream of a fantastic outcome, take the time to consider what could derail it. You might find it brings your dreams closer.

Parkinson's Law tells us that work expands to fill available time. To increase personal productivity, you can invert it. Half the amount of time you think a task might take, and try to beat the clock. You'll almost always do it faster than having set yourself a 'reasonable' deadline.

Chemical reactions need activation energy to begin. You can't set wood on fire without applying some heat, no matter how hard you look at it! This is why some things are so hard to get started. Use this concept to consider what energy you should apply to get something moving.

Van Halen's David Lee Roth famously insisted that no brown M&Ms be allowed backstage. This wasn't a ludicrous rockstar request, but a simple test: brown M&Ms told Roth the venue hadn't read the technical contracts. Set your own tripwires to force a decision or change perspective.

Eisenhower's secret to success? "The most urgent decisions are rarely the most important ones." The Eisenhower Matrix requires a 2x2 grid with four categories of work: "urgent and important", "important, but not urgent", "urgent but not important" and "not important and not urgent".

Warren Buffett advocates understanding our circle of competence when investing. We tend to overestimate what we know – and as we stray outside our circle, we make more mistakes. If you want to be successful, pick a circle of competence, and operate inside it.

Hanlon's Razor reminds us that a malicious world is not, in fact, out to get us. Our suffering is more likely due to someone else's incompetence, ignorance or neglect. If we accept that even the smartest people make mistakes, an assumption of malicious intent can worsen the problem.

What if we could predict failure before we started? If we spend time envisioning potential failures, we can find the pitfalls earlier. Next time you dream of a fantastic outcome, take the time to consider what could derail it. You might find it brings your dreams closer.

Parkinson's Law tells us that work expands to fill available time. To increase personal productivity, you can invert it. Half the amount of time you think a task might take, and try to beat the clock. You'll almost always do it faster than having set yourself a 'reasonable' deadline.

Chemical reactions need activation energy to begin. You can't set wood on fire without applying some heat, no matter how hard you look at it! This is why some things are so hard to get started. Use this concept to consider what energy you should apply to get something moving.