1: “The first time my boss saw one of those spoons, she narrowed her eyes and asked me what they had cost,” Will Guidara writes in his amazing book Unreasonable Hospitality.

When Will told her the price, her eyes got even narrower: “We’ll talk about this later,” she said.

The year was 2004.  The Museum of Modern Art in New York City was reopening after a two-year-long, $450-million renovation … continue reading

1: A couple was celebrating their anniversary at one of the legendary restaurateur Danny Meyer’s restaurants in New York City.

“Midway through their meal, they remember they’ve left a bottle of champagne in the freezer,” Will Guidara writes in his terrific book Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect.

“They call the sommelier over to ask if it’s likely to explode before they get … continue reading

1: What exactly is unreasonable hospitality?

The answer is perhaps best explained by the actions of the legendary chef Daniel Boulud.

“Daniel is so renowned in my industry he is known by his first name alone,” Will Guidara writes in his book Unreasonable Hospitality.

“It is also the name of his Michelin-starred restaurant in New York, which he opened in 1993 after years as the acclaimed chef at … continue reading

1: “You’re not being realistic,” someone would tell Will Guidara and Daniel Humm.

“You’re being unreasonable.”

“That word ‘unreasonable’ was meant to shut us down—to end the conversation, as it so often does,” Will writes in his book Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect.

“Instead,” he says, “it started one, and became our call to arms.”

Daniel and Will were partners in … continue reading

1: Author and podcaster Sam Harris was at lunch with a friend.  

He remembers “moaning on about the various problems he was confronting in his work,” Oliver Burkeman writes in his book Meditations for Mortals.

Sam’s friend interrupted him mid-flow. “Were you really expecting to have no more problems at some point in your life?” she asked.

Her question was jarring. It suddenly occurred to him that he “had … continue reading

This week we’ve been exploring how to be more productive.

At the heart of these efforts is (#1) defining our key priorities, and then (#2) planning our days to get these things done, says Google productivity expert  Laura Mae Martin in her book Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and Wellbeing.

Pretty simple, right?

Not so much.  We say: “Well, this is great, and I’ve set my … continue reading

1: “When we’re asked,” Google productivity expert Laura Mae Martin writes in her book Uptime, “to schedule a meeting on Monday at 8:00 a.m. the day we’re returning from a two-week vacation, we think ‘Sure!’ and add it to our calendars.”

What don’t we do?

“Envision future 7:45 a.m.-Us that day trying to make that happen,” Laura notes.

The psychological research is clear: There is a disconnect between our … continue reading

1: One of Google Productivity Expert Laura Mae Martin‘s most popular trainings centers around what she calls “The List Funnel.”

We “can think of to-do lists like a funnel,” Laura writes in her book Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and Wellbeing.  “Start with the highest level of everything we could possibly do, or want to do, and narrow it down into what we actually will do … continue reading

1: How do we maximize our productivity?

That’s the question Laura Mae Martin is tasked with at Google.  Her job title?  Google productivity expert.

At the core of Laura teaching is the idea of the List Funnel, “something I’ve taught successfully at Google for years,” she writes in her book Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and Wellbeing.

We “can think of to-do lists like a funnel,” Laura … continue reading

“Every morning, therefore, at about 9.30 after breakfast each of us, as if moved by a law of unquestioned nature, went off and ‘worked’ until lunch at one. It is surprising how much one can produce in a year, whether of buns or books or pots or pictures, if one works hard and professionally for three and a half hours every day for 330 days [a year]. That was why, … continue reading