How to Work From Home and Get Stuff Done

Here’s a great tip sheet for all the work-from-home warriors out there (or those aspiring to be), from the founder of freelanship, Lauren err… Holiday.

Before you get the wrong impression:

“… don’t let this phenomenal benefit fool you, remote work is a lot of work. Not to mention, it’s a very different way of work. While awesome, working from home presents challenges around communication, productivity, and company culture.”

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Deep Work & Flow

I’m a fan of articles that summarise books. And here is one to add to your weekend reading. It features “Deep Work” and “Flow” — two books that will help you achieve high-quality work and deep satisfaction through a state of flow.

And in this day and age, it’s needed more than ever.

In the words of Deep Work author, Cal Newport:

“The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.”

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The Trick to Actually Remembering What You Learn

When learning something new, just when you think you can’t learn anymore, keep going - overlearn it.

At least that’s what the folks at Brown University found in a recent study.

In essence:

“when people learn something new and then learn a similar task soon after, the second instance of learning often undermines the mastery achieved on the first… "overlearning” prevents against this kind of interference, cementing the new information so well that the opposite happens instead. For a period of time after overlearning of the first task occurs, effective learning of the second task is blocked.“

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Being Tired Isn’t a Badge of Honour

As we shift gears into the weekend, here’s a great reminder, from Basecamp CEO, Jason Fried (who knows a thing or two about productivity, success and the future of work), that being tired is not a badge of honour.

In his words:

“Your brain is still active at night. It works through matters you can’t address during the day. Don’t you want to wake up with new solutions in your head rather than bags under your eyes?”

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