Back during the whole Marissa-Mayer-is-pregnant dust-up this summer, I mentioned that being the CEO is actually a great job for the mom of small kids. If you're late to a 9 a.m. meeting, people will wait for you. If you don't want to work from 5:30-8 p.m., people will take your calls at 8:30. They fly to see...

I write about time management a lot. I'm also one of those comically punctual people who don't get the idea of social lateness. If you invite me to a party at 8 ... I'll probably be there at 8. So being late to anything puts me in quite a state. I don't like to scramble when I've already made plans. So I get...

A cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, the saying goes -- which may explain why Australian company BHP Billiton's rule book, leaked to the Australian Financial Review, made a big deal about employee desks. According to the publication, employees "have to clean their desks every day of all but eight...

There was a time, not so long ago, when I was busy, busy, busy. At least I thought I was. I told people I worked 60 hours a week. I claimed to sleep six hours a night. As I lamented to anyone stuck next to me at parties, I was basically too busy to breathe. Me time? Ha!

Decades ago, I had a brief interest in chess. I played around with a board and I read through books of the greatest matches. I decided I didn't really like the game enough to pursue it, but I always loved the concept of what master chess players do. They look at the way things are, and then think three, or...

Long-time readers of my articles know that I have a favorite data set: The American Time Use Survey. This annual study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics asks thousands of Americans to keep track of their time. Because it is broad, and based on actual days, as opposed to how people recollect "typical" days,...

It's a constant lament from people with long hours and commutes: I want more time for myself. I want time to exercise or do creative work, but when I come home from my job, I'm spent. On weekends I do all the chores I don't have time for during the week. Where's the time for things I find meaningful -- but...

Not many workplaces have "summer Fridays" -- that genteel tradition of closing down around lunch once a week from Memorial Day to Labor Day. According to a survey done by Ultimat Vodka, just 12 percent of employed adults get this perk. Officially, that is. Because anyone who's tried to start a new project...

Those of you with scouting experience likely remember the myriad tricks used to start campfires. I'm not talking matches -- I'm talking the things you threw a lit match on with the hope of getting a serious enough flame going to eventually light the kindling. In my troop, I have a vague memory of paper egg...