The Way We're Working Isn't Working

Monday is the best day for low-demand administrative tasks, including setting goals, organizing, and planning. By Tuesday, most of us are fully ramped up. Over the next two days, our capacity for focus and engagement is at a peak.

During my first renewal break I had breakfast. For my second I took a thirty-or forty-minute run, and for my third I had lunch and read the newspaper or a book for pleasure. If I did a fourth writing sprint, I lifted weights or meditated afterward. Then I spent the afternoon on phone calls and other work that didn’t require such high concentration.

The first key shift is to stop evaluating performance by the number of hours employees put in and instead measure it by the value they produce.

Contents PART I: A NEW WAY OF WORKING CHAPTER ONE More and More, Less and Less CHAPTER TWO We Can’t Change What We Don’t Notice CHAPTER THREE We’re Creatures of Habit PART II: SUSTAINABILITY/PHYSICAL CHAPTER FOUR Feeling the Pulse CHAPTER FIVE Sleep or Die

CHAPTER NINETEEN We’re All in This Together CHAPTER TWENTY Purpose for Passion The Big Ideas Notes Bibliography Acknowledgments Index Tools for Change

CHAPTER THIRTEEN A New Value Proposition PART IV: SELF-EXPRESSION/MENTAL CHAPTER FOURTEEN A Poverty of Attention CHAPTER FIFTEEN One Thing at a Time CHAPTER SIXTEEN Cultivating the Whole Brain CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Autonomy for Accountability PART V: SIGNIFICANCE/SPIRITUAL CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Who Are You, and What Do You

CHAPTER ONE ACTION STEPS Reflect on the four key energy needs: sustainability (physical); security (emotional); self-expression (mental); and significance (spiritual). How well are you meeting these needs? Where

do you feel you’re falling short? What are the costs to you and to others in your life? Think of a typical day at work. How much of your day do you spend working without breaks for long periods of time? Schedule a midmorning and midafternoon break to experiment with refueling. Identify one of your employees whose work isn’t as good as you think it

CHAPTER SIX Making Waves CHAPTER SEVEN Use It or Lose It CHAPTER EIGHT Less Is More CHAPTER NINE Creating a Culture That Pulses Part III: Security/Emotional CHAPTER TEN The War Between the States CHAPTER ELEVEN If You Ain’t Got Pride, You Ain’t Got Nothin’ CHAPTER TWELVE