Author: Maya

One important take-away from “The Good Psychopath’s Guide to Success”

Posted MayaPosted in Books

“The Good Psychopath’s Guide to Success” is a self-help book by Dr. Kevin Dutton and Andy McNab that takes some of the many-times-heard, common-sense strategies for success (leaning to say “no“, practicing mindfulness, building new habits one day at a time, etc.) and presents them with a new spin, by comparing them to some of the common psychopathic traits (see details below). I appreciate the fresh point of view, as well as the authors’ challenging of traditional (and somewhat outdated) assumptions about psychopathy. However, I find the title distasteful and clickbaity.

OKRs: Do It

OKRs: Turn Vision Into Reality (But Really)

Posted MayaPosted in Productivity

Myths And Misconceptions In every introduction to OKRs, you will read that they were the key to Google’s success. If you read further, you’ll find that they originated at Intel, forged by Andy Grove, the father of OKRs. This might lead you to a conclusion that OKRs are a framework for tech companies, and that, if you are not in that kind of business, you should just move along. Incorrect! OKRs are a versatile and powerful goal-setting-and-achieving tool, which can be applied in any industry, by companies and teams of all sizes. What is best, you don’t even have to […]

Momentum Dash - handle tasks simply

2 Apps To Manage Your Tasks Like a Boss For Free

Posted MayaPosted in Technology

If you currently manage your tasks by keeping them in your head or writing them on post-its which hopelessly hang from the bottom of your computer screen, waiting to be done, only to be forgotten as soon as they fall off and land behind your table, I would strongly suggest you switch to a digital version. I admit there is a certain magic in writing your tasks on a piece of paper and checking them off or striking them through. If you have a reliable system for organizing your work with a pen and paper, by all means, continue to […]

Bears exchanging opinions

Opinions And How To Change Them

Posted MayaPosted in Humans

You know what they say: “Opinions are like noses. Everybody has one. But there is usually a couple of holes in it.” I’ve seen opinions compared to another part of the human anatomy, one which has only one hole, and I must say, that one sounds even more precise. Personal or professional, opinions can be dangerous, especially if we hold onto them as facts, which they are certainly not. Your Opinions Are Not As Objective As You Think If you’ve ever had the perseverance to read the entire Thinking, Fast And Slow by Daniel Kahneman, you must be familiar with […]

Training during Coronavirus lockdown

5 Tips on How to Keep Your Edge During Coronavirus Lockdown

Posted MayaPosted in Wellness

These days, while we are all socially distancing because of the Coronavirus outbreak, we find tips and tricks on how to boost our WFH productivity on every virtual corner. That’s why I would like to talk about something slightly different, something I am not hearing enough of: how to keep your edge during Coronavirus lockdown. TLDR: Just click on the links in the text and find some useful apps and content 🙂  If we don’t pay attention to the state of our minds and bodies, we run the risk of turning into a snack-munching, Netflix-watching, pyjama-sporting piles of blubber and […]

Healthy food

3 Eating Habits For a Healthier Life

Posted MayaPosted in Wellness

I’ve been meaning to write about food for a while, but kept putting it off because discussing food, in a lot of cases, raises more tension than discussing religion or political views. People have certain beliefs and habits around food which they are reluctant to change even when confronted with completely logical arguments. Eating habits are rooted deep in culture, tradition, upbringing, etc. In my experience, this can only be changed with exposure to new and interesting information. So, I decided to write about food after all, in hopes of impacting at least one person in a positive way. These […]

White pillows and sheets

Sleep Optimization: Can a Night Owl Still Get the Worm

Posted MayaPosted in Books

Have you ever felty lazy for not being a morning person? Have you felt weak because you just cannot pull an all-nighter? In today’s busy world, sleep is considered something to be ashamed of, although it is as basic a human need as pooping. That’s another necessary activity we would rather not admit to doing. We humans are strange that way. An animal never feel embarrassed for pooping or sleeping. Honestly, I blame Thomas Edison. Apart from (allegedly) inventing the light bulb, thus making it possible for people to work during the night, he perpetuated the idea that sleep is […]

Morning Walk Blog

5 Benefits of a Morning Walk

Posted MayaPosted in Wellness

Some time ago, I heard a guest doctor on the amazing Health Theory (I can’t find the exact episode for the life of me) suggest a morning walk for a good night’s sleep. According to the doctor, getting out into the natural light, preferably as soon as you get out of bed, will help wake you up in the morning and put you to sleep in the evening. I started the next day without looking too deep into it (it can’t hurt, right?) and have been doing it religiously for months. In the meantime, I have collected some points from […]

Stones balancing

Meditation Can Turn You into a Machine

Posted MayaPosted in Mindfulness

I am such a lousy meditator that I could write an article on that subject alone. However, I feel meditation has had such a positive impact on me, that I have to bring it up, even with my beginner’s impressions only. If you are pondering whether to try it or not, or if you are a struggling beginner, this text is for you. Discovering Meditation Growing up, I always saw meditation as some mystical mumbo jumbo with no practical application. I come from an environment that isn’t big on things like meditation. Where I come from, we solve problems with […]

Workstation which inspires productivity

Notes on “The Productivity Project” by Chris Bailey

Posted MayaPosted in Books

In today’s busy world, where we are constantly trying to make a day last more than 24 hours, productivity is the ultimate buzzword. There are so many books and articles with advice on how to improve it, that one wouldn’t know where to start! “The Productivity Project” by Chris Bailey caught my eye, or ear to be more precise when I heard a summary of the book. I read it in the following days and liked its content and easy-going narrative. The only thing I did not like was the length: I felt like the content could have been packed […]