The Shared Week in Review

What Makes Us Stronger. Stress is good for you. Without it, you'd never get out of bed and get better at what you do. And learning to re-frame the way you feel about stress (for example recognizing that a life without stress would not have much meaning) goes a long way toward helping you keep from getting stuck by distress and the helplessness that goes along with it.

Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time. Likewise, because stress is a normal part of performance, the ability to rest and recover the energy you expend is also crucial. And as emphasized in the next post, daily practices and routines (regular meals, exercise, scheduled breaks, etc.) help build energy. And mindfulness practices making you aware of how you feel throughout the day and how that affects your performance are also key.

Daily Practices for Lives That Are Anything But Routine (Part 2). Have you thought about the difference between the "deep work" and the "shallow work" you do, and how to jealously guard your time to give yourself sufficient time for the former?

Desk Jockey Workout: 8 Ways to Stay in Shape at the Office. What better way to maintain mental and physical energy throughout the day than to keep moving?

Hard Time Meditating? Stop Seeking Results. As pointed out above, meditation is not about getting anywhere, it's becoming aware of thoughts and feelings. The whole idea brings to mind this classic Onion post, "Monk Gloats Over Yoga Championship".

On Zen as a Weapon Against Mind Control. If it is true that the goal of meditation is becoming aware (not to feel better), then becoming aware includes noticing when you're being played and manipulated.

If Computers Wrote Laws: Decisions Handed Down By Data. Some musings by The Economist on what the legal world may look like when computers become even more ubiquitous.

Viewing People As ... Trees? Yes! And because I have spent the week amongst the trees, a post by my good friend Ashley Pennewill about the snap judgments we make about the people we meet: