Ahh, to sleep, perchance to dream. It's safe to say we all need strategies that help us sustain our energy and brainpower, so that we can continue to work smarter, learn quickly, and focus our attention on the things that have the highest value.  

According to the National Institutes of Health, one of our biggest obstacles to performance is that we are not getting enough zzzz's;  50 to 70 million Americans have sleep problems.  Sleep deprivation has serious consequences, not only on our moods and physical health, but also our cognitive function.

Harvard School of Medicine’s Division of Sleep published several studies in 2012 that indicate poor quality sleep leads to an increase in errors at the workplace, decreased productivity, and accidents that cost both lives and resources. It also steals our ability to learn: when we are sleep deprived, our focus, attention, and vigilance drift, making it more difficult to receive information.

Have you noticed a time management backlash to the economic crisis?  Procrastination seems to be at an all time high these days--90% of our clients complain about their ineffectiveness at work these days.  It's hard to get anything done....when people you are doing business with take longer to respond, you've got a bunch of new responsibilities to wrap your head around, and your own to-do list has become a bit of a stranger to you.

Restructuring, hiring freezes, and the unpredictable business climate have created a situation in which it's hard to figure out where to invest your time, to provide value.  How do you prioritize when your to-do list goes on for 7 pages? How do you produce quality work when you are distracted with worry? ..............

In these times of extraordinary economic uncertainty,  most people I talk to are having a lot of trouble focusing.  Worry and anxiety seem to flood the brain with fear adrenaline—making it hard to concentrate, remember anything, put two sentences together, feel effective.  So what do you do about it? First of all, go easy on yourself—taking some comfort in the fact that everyone is in the same boat. Then, get back to basics..........