Lessons in Productivity from Ralph Waldo Emerson

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Brett McKay, editor of The Art of Manliness

Before there was Steven Covey, or GTD, or Zen Habits, before simplicity was hip, and even before the advent of a crushing load of modern technology from which people would long to be freed, there were the American Transcendentalists. The OG of simplicity. Foremost among these was Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of the finest American minds, and a man who espoused principles that resonate even today.

9 Steps to Achieving Flow (and Happiness) in Your Work

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” - Buddha

Have your ever lost yourself in your work, so much so that you lost track of time? Being consumed by a task like that, while it can be rare for most people, is a state of being called Flow.

In my experience, it’s one of the keys to happiness at work, and a nice side benefit is that it not only reduces stress but increases your productivity. Not bad, huh?

When I wrote about the Magical Power of Focus, I promised to write more about how to achieve Flow, a concept that is very much in vogue right now and something most of us have experienced at one time or another.

Ask the Readers: How Do You Deal With Email?

If you’re like me, you get a lot of email. You might even live in your email inbox, doing a lot of work from there. But if you’re not careful, email can become overwhelming.

I’d like to hear from you — are you overwhelmed by your email? If not, how do you handle it so that it’s manageable? What does your inbox look like? What are your favorite tips and tricks?

So here’s today’s reader question:

How do you deal with email? Are you overloaded? Or do you have some tips that work for you?

Let us know in the comments!

How to Get a Lot Done – 7 Tips to Achieve More

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Collis Ta’eed, co-founder of AudioJungle, FlashDen, many other sites. You can find him on Twitter.

Have you ever written out a list of goals you’d like to achieve and thought, ‘How can I get all this done’? Or seen an opportunity that you’ve had to pass by because you are just flat out? Life is a torrent of choices and possibilities, and often it’s hard to let them go. Should you compromise? Or do you just need a better game plan?

As an easily excitable person, I have a really hard time constraining myself to doing just a few things. Every project seems worth doing, every opportunity worth taking. Still I know that for many people, work is a way to make enough money to relax and enjoy life. If that sounds like you, then you may not get much out of this article. However, if your days are filled to the brim and yet you still can’t wait to start that new project, then I am speaking to you!

Ask the Readers: Best Off-the-wall Productivity Tips?

Today I’m going to ask you guys to reach deep down into your bag of tricks, to think of the most unusual productivity tips and tricks that work for you.

Now, we’ve all read some of the excellent articles on the many productivity blogs, we’ve read GTD and Zen To Done, and it seems like the same productivity tips are repeated over and over. And while some of my productivity tips are different than others, you’ve read them all here at Zen Habits more than a few times.

So I’m asking you to find productivity tips that actually work for you, that you haven’t read on Zen Habits or any other blog or famous productivity book.

Here’s today’s reader question:

What are your best off-the-wall productivity tips?

Let us know in the comments!