by emmavallin | Apr 4, 2024 | CBT, coaching, leadership, productivity, self leadership
I came across this lovely story while doing research for my book. There was a Japanese Zen master named Nan-in who lived during the Meiji era (1868-1912). Once, a university professor came to visit him to learn about Zen. When the master had spoken for a while the...
by emmavallin | Nov 23, 2023 | career, leadership, personal development, productivity, self leadership, stress
Knowledge workers spend on average 85% of their time in meetings, which studies show negatively affects well-being. Not surprisingly many organizations are opting for meeting-free days. But how does this effect cooperation and productivity? A study* of companies who...
by emmavallin | Sep 13, 2023 | career, leadership, productivity, self leadership, stress, wellbeing
Pulling an all-nighter, doing 80-hour weeks, burning the midnight oil. There are countless cultural references and expressions of overwork, most of them talk about the number of hours we work. The 8-hour workday can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution and was...
by emmavallin | Apr 25, 2023 | career, leadership, parent, parenting, personal development, productivity, self leadership
Last month I celebrated my 3rd anniversary as a fulltime entrepreneur. Happy birthday to me! In some ways you can compare starting a business to parenting a child. It’s an exciting idea to bring a child into the world but few of us were prepared for the toddle...
by emmavallin | Feb 17, 2023 | personal development, planning, productivity, self leadership
Decisive, bold, assertive, fast, consistent – these are traditionally highly valued traits in the corporate world. Many of us have heard them in performance reviews, either as qualities we have or should develop. In brand management, where I spend most of my...
by emmavallin | May 24, 2022 | distraction, notifications, productivity, self leadership, stress, wellbeing
Many of my clients experience an acute lack of focus time, what they often call ‘real work’. They are overwhelmed by the constant flow of emails, meeting invites and ‘urgent’ requests from stakeholders. It’s not surprising. A study from Loughborough University...
