When most of us think of flow at work, we may think of charts, project plans and deadlines. But there is another kind of work flow that is incredibly important, especially for entrepreneurs. Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi popularized the concept of “flow” in the early 1990’s. According to his theory, flow manifests itself when a person’s natural skills align with the challenges they face. When people operate outside of their flow, problems arise.  For example, if an individual works in a highly challenging environment in which their natural skills are outclassed, they tend to experience terrible anxiety and stress. Conversely, if an individual’s advanced skills are wasted in an industry that is neither interesting nor challenging, boredom and apathy quickly set in. In the world of business, this situation occurs when an individual’s natural skills and proclivities are simply not a fit for the career they chose. That’s why I believe that finding the r...

Who hasn’t struggled to stay awake through a three-hour meeting, or left a department-wide pow-wow wondering what the point was? It’s amazing how many bad meetings we have to suffer through at work: Each month, people spend about  31 hours in unproductive meetings , and the U.S. spends a whopping  $37 billion  on salaries for hours spent in unnecessary meetings. As someone  running four growing companies , I have long understood that time is my most valuable asset. I also happen to have ADHD, so sitting through long meetings is extra difficult – especially if they lack focus. That’s why I’ve developed a framework to ensure every meeting I attend – or lead – is worthwhile. Make meetings more productive … and maybe even fun. Photo by Jeremy Jude Lee. Here are  10 quick tips to ensure your meetings aren’t time-wasters. 1. State The Objective How many times have you gone to a meeting with only a vague agenda and sat through a discussion with ...