Category Archives: communication

Stop Being Busy. Start Resting.

When you’re busy all the time, it’s hard to pause, slow down and rest. But the busier you are, the more you need to recover and recharge. Wanting to rest is not a sign of weakness or laziness. It’s not just a reward for hard work or a job well done.

Rest helps you avoid exhaustion, overwhelm and burnout. Although it helps you to do more and make more, it’s vital for its own sake. When you’re well rested, you make better choices and prioritize what matters. You do fewer things in the short term, but accomplish more in the long run.   

Visible activity is often mistaken for real productivity. You could be going fast and spinning your wheels, but not making real progress or heading in the right direction. When you’re too tired and stressed, you can’t produce output and generate ideas that are truly valuable and useful.

In episode 70 of The Incrementalist, you will learn:

1) What is rest

2) The benefits of passive rest, like Niksen (the Dutch term for doing nothing)

3) The advantages of active rest, like tactile hobbies or meditative activities

4) Rest can be mentally restorative, physically recharging, or spiritually renewing, or a combination of all three

5) The two main branches of the nervous system: Sympathetic and Parasympathetic

6) Polyvagal Theory and the importance of the vagus nerve and Ventral Vagal State

7) The four types of responses to stress: Fight, Flight, Freeze and Fawn

8) Rest allows you to use your nervous system more effectively and activate the Ventral Vagal State to destress

9) Why rest is key to creating big results in small steps

I’m making an online course currently titled The Busyness Trap: How to Escape Overload and Focus on What Matters. To get updates on the course launch and registration process, subscribe to my e-newsletter or The Incrementalist YouTube channel or podcast.

To read the transcript of this episode, go here.

To listen to the podcast, click here.

Watch the video our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist – A Productivity Show. And subscribe to the show to keep making big changes in small steps.

# # #

Dyan Williams is a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is also a productivity coach who helps busy professionals and business owners reduce overwhelm, turn their ideas into action, and focus on what matters. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps.

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Learn While Doing Things (Better)

Learning is a meta skill for thriving, growing, and doing better. When you don’t learn, you stay stuck and repeat the same mistakes. While learning might not be as urgent as performing tasks, producing output and meeting deadlines, it’s just as important.

Your performance is at its lowest when you’re purely performing or purely learning. You’re most likely to succeed when you have the ideal mix of both.

In episode 69 of The Incrementalist, you will learn:

1) Chronic performance is counterproductive

2) The difference between having a fixed mindset and a growth mindset

3) 7 big ideas from Eduardo Briceño’s book, The Performance Paradox, to break out of chronic performance and turn the power of mindset into action

Big Idea #1: Chronic performance does not improve performance. (Progress toward success is rarely a straight line.)

Big Idea #2: Integrate learning into your work and life. (The Learning Zone and Performance Zone are two states of mind for different purposes.)

Big Idea #3: Combine the Learning Zone and the Performance Zone so you can learn while doing. (This is different from learning by doing, which is repeating an experience without reflecting on it.)

Big Idea #4: Use different learning strategies to improve performance. (Briceño provides 6 to try.)

Big Idea #5: Know the different types of mistakes and how and when to make, avoid, and respond to them. (Briceño divides them into four types: Aha-Moment Mistakes, Stretch Mistakes, Sloppy Mistakes and High-Stakes Mistakes.)

Big Idea #6: Understand the realities of having a growth mindset and integrating the learning process. (Briceño explains 6 common misconceptions.)

Big Idea #7: Build a strong growth propeller by attending to five elements: identity, purpose, beliefs, habits and community. (You can have one integrated identity with different responsibilities or multiple identities that involve your different roles in life. Ultimately, they should all encourage learning.)

4) I’m making an online course currently titled The Busyness Trap: How to Escape Overload and Focus on What Matters. To get updates on the course launch and registration process, subscribe to my e-newsletter or The Incrementalist YouTube channel or podcast.

To read the transcript of this episode, go here.

To listen to the podcast, click here.

Watch the video our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist – A Productivity Show. And subscribe to the show to keep making big changes in small steps.

# # #

Dyan Williams is a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is also a productivity coach who helps busy professionals and business owners reduce overwhelm, turn their ideas into action, and focus on what matters. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps.

SUBSCRIBE           CONTACT

Making Decisions When You Don’t Know What to Do

Uncertain outcomes and imperfect data make it tougher to decide. A decision starts with a choice, which is an opportunity to select from two or more options. A decision is cutting off options and narrowing it down to just one. This is harder to do in novel, high-stakes situations.

In episode 63 of The Incrementalist, you will learn how to make better decisions in the face of uncertainty:

1. Understand that decision making starts with knowing what you really want. Go with thick desires, instead of thin desires.
2. Find out where you are on the Social Behavior Map in decision making.
3. Embrace Wicked Learning Environments.
4. Create Kinder Learning Environments.
5. Consider the need for certainty as a pitfall in decision making. 

To learn more by reading the transcript, go here.

To listen to Making Decisions When You Don’t Know What to Do, click here. Subscribe to The Incrementalist podcast at Apple Podcasts or other apps if you’re an auditory learner.

Watch the video, Making Decisions When You Don’t Know What to Do on our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist – A Productivity Show. And subscribe to the show to keep making big changes in small steps.

# # #

Dyan Williams is a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is also a productivity coach who helps working parents, lawyers, small business owners and other busy people turn their ideas into action, reduce overwhelm, and focus on what truly matters. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps.

SUBSCRIBE           CONTACT

Making Decisions When You Have Choice Overload and Cognitive Biases

Decision making can be daunting. A decision can be so tough that you avoid it for as long as possible, instead of approach it head-on. And we can get worn out by the sheer number of choices we make daily.

In episode 62 of The Incrementalist, you will learn two major pitfalls in decision making and strategies to navigate them.

To learn more by reading the transcript, go here.

To listen to Making Decisions When You Have Choice Overload and Cognitive Biases, click here. Subscribe to The Incrementalist podcast at Apple Podcasts or other apps if you’re an auditory learner.

Watch the video on our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist – A Productivity Show. And subscribe to the show if you enjoy video learning. This will help the show grow and reach you and others who want to create big changes in small steps.

# # #

Dyan Williams is a productivity coach who helps working parents, lawyers, small business owners and other busy people turn their ideas into action, reduce overwhelm, and focus on what truly matters. She is also a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps.

SUBSCRIBE           CONTACT

7 Mistakes to Avoid When Goal Setting

Goals are targets, milestones or results you want to achieve. They can empower you to move out of a rut and experience life more fully.

The fresh start effect of a Monday, the first day of the month, or a new year inspires us to set new goals. But week after week, month after month, year after year, we set goals that we soon forget.

Before you decide that goals are bad for you or don’t work, first look at how you set them.

In episode 61 of The Incrementalist, you will learn 7 big mistakes to avoid when goal setting.

To learn more by reading the transcript, go here.

To listen to 7 Mistakes to Avoid When Goal Setting, click here. Subscribe to The Incrementalist podcast at Apple Podcasts or other apps if you’re an auditory learner.

Watch the video on our YouTube channel, The Incrementalist – A Productivity Show. And subscribe to the show if you’re a visual learner. This will help the show grow and reach you and others who want to create big changes in small steps.

# # #

Dyan Williams is a productivity coach who helps working parents, lawyers, small business owners and other busy people turn their ideas into action, reduce overwhelm, and focus on what truly matters. She is also a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps.

SUBSCRIBE           CONTACT