business analyst

I used to work a lot — 60, 80, or even 100 hours a week.

I let my work be a big part of how I defined myself. I wore those insane hours like a badge of honor . . . I loved telling people how "busy" I was and how much I "had to do".

Sound familiar?

Looking back, I realize I used my work to try and fill a void in myself. The problem was that this void was like a black hole. No matter how many hours I worked, it never seemed to fill it up. If anything, it made me feel worse.

One day I’d had enough. Truth be told, I’d had way more than enough. I stopped and reevaluated my life, trying to figure out what was important to me, and what wasn’t.

I had to make a big change. I had to figure out how to work smarter, not harder. I needed to optimize my work process to do more in less time.

I needed the Pomodoro Technique. Here’s how this incredible simple time management system changed my workday—and ultimately, my life. I think it can do the same for you.

Everything you need to know about web development. Neatly packaged. Learn HTML, CSS, Javascript, Python, Rails, Node, and more in each box with a set of links.

Gender equality in leadership is a topic appearing with increasing frequency among the research reports, books, and opinion pieces crossing my desk. Perhaps one reason is the candidacy of women for the Presidency of the United States in both parties.

Whatever the reason, research is shedding interesting insights on the issue. Findings of a recent McKinsey Global Institute study include: (1) lack of gender diversity is associated with a greater likelihood of below par performance in a sample of 366 companies in Canada, Latin America, United Kingdom, and the US, and (2) when companies commit themselves to diverse leadership, they are more successful.

One response to the research is to disagree with the premise and methodology. Studies like these can be easy targets. Three hundred sixty-six companies spread across a number of countries is a small sample. Although gender and financial data are straightforward, they are not always easy to obtain with complete accuracy. And, like many studies, these correlate gender diversity with financial performance. That is, they are found together. But that doesn’t mean that gender diversity necessarily accounts for much if any of the performance.