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Lets hear it for the frazzled. Those multitasking, multiskilled superhero women (and lets be honest, theyre almost always women) whose days are packed to the brimjuggling leadership roles and caregiving, studying in between appointments, work calls, and late-night birthday party prep. Theyre keeping it all going and doing it well, even if they feel like theyre barely holding it together. Procrastination? They dont have time for it. In my new book Small Moves, Big Life, I lay out clear, accessible daily practices for dialing down overwhelm, especially for women in high-performance positions. Its all about small, repeatable actions that keep you productive, focused, and moving forward, even on your busiest days. These arent chakra-activating, crystal-powered wellness goals (not that theres anything wrong with that; you do you), theyre practical, no-nonsense, science-backed shifts that take just a few minutes and truly deliver momentum, not just in your work output, but in your mindset, too. Do the Thing Do the Thing is one of the key tools in that framework. Its incredibly simple, effective, and designed to reduce decision fatigue. A hack, if you will. Its an approach Ive used for years, and I honestly couldn’t have founded and built an international business, led teams, and raised two daughters without it. Ill admit, its a little counterintuitive, but hear me out. At its core, Do the Thing is a smarter way to write a to-do list. Weve all scribbled down an overwhelming list of everything we need to do only to freeze at the sight of it. When your workload is intense and your brains already at full capacity, even planning becomes exhausting. That list of everything ends up doing the opposite of what we need. It stirs up guilt, triggers decision fatigue, and makes us feel like were falling behind, no matter how many hours we put in. Ive seen this firsthand. In 2019, I was moving my family to New York City, restructuring my business, managing school logistics, and navigating a divorce all at once. I had big plans and even bigger responsibilities, and even though I knew I was doing my best, I was overwhelmed and out of sync. Despite constant effort, I didnt feel like I was making real progress; I was doing everything but not really achieving anything. I needed to reclaim clarity, and fast. So, I did something radical: I ripped up the endless to-do list and rebuilt it from scratch. Thats how Do the Thing was born. The Power of Three I started with a blank sheet of paper and wrote down just three things: the highest-priority, biggest-impact actions for that day. These were my nonnegotiables. At the time, they were things like finalize a franchise agreement, review legal documents, renew a passport. Just three high priority tasks I told myself I would absolutely get done, no matter what. Once those were completed, I didnt move on right away. I took a beat and recognized the win. I even gave myself a quiet, mental Atta girl. Because progress deserves acknowledgment. Then, I added two bonus tasks, things that would also move my day along but wouldnt be the end of the world if I didnt get to them. Finally, I added one feel good action: something to look forward to that restored energy. That mightve been a 15-minute walk, calling a friend, or trying out some new skincare. Just a tiny, intentional reset. What I created was a reverse pyramid: 3 must-do items 2 nice-to-haves 1 mood-boosting reset It was short, focused, and completely doable. And it changed everything. That day, I got more done, not by doing everything, but just by doing what really mattered. My decision fatigue lifted, my energy returned, and I had a clear view of what success looked like. I finally had momentum, and it felt good. Doing Less Can Actually Drive More Results Over time, my Do The Thing tool became a mindset. It helped me reframe how I defined success, not by how busy I felt, but by whether I made meaningful progress. Theres expert thinking to back this up. According to Don Sull and Charlie Sull in theMIT Sloan Management Review, The power of specific, ambitious goals to improve the performance of individuals and teams is one of the best documented findings in organizational psychology. So, being specific wins, but I would add consistency and intention, too. One of the best benefits of Do the Thing is that it creates space for full-out effort. In my dance training, this meant not just learning the choreography, but performing full-out it like it was opening night. Now, years later, I apply that same mindset to work: show up fully, deliver with intention, and then move on. Heres the equation I live by: Consistency + Full-Out Effort + Time = Results When you apply that formula, even to just three tasks, you start seeing big change. You go from exhausted to accomplished. Your long-term strategy becomes clear. And you go from spread-too-thin to truly impactful. Getting it done Perfectionism convinces us we need to do more, try harder, and never miss a beat. But the real magic? Its in being specific, doing what matters most, and doing it with focus, clarity, and intention. Do the Thing doesnt require a life overhaul, expensive systems, or elaborate rituals. Just a short list, written with clarity and intention, and followed consistently. Over time, thats how momentum is built. Thats how high performers stay grounded. And thats how you trade feeling frazzled for the extraordinary feeling of getting it done.Excerpted from Small Moves, Big Life: 7 Daily Practices to Supercharge Your Energy, Productivity, and Happiness (in Just Minutes a Day) (BenBella Books, October 7, 2025)
Category:
E-Commerce
When asked, 88% of Americans will say theyre above average drivers. In the ability to get along with others, 25% of students rate themselves in the top 1%. When couples are asked to estimate their individual contributions to household work, the combined total routinely exceeds 100%. These are all statistical impossibilities. Theyre also great examples of how were predisposed to overrate our abilities and contributions. As an aspiring CEO candidate, its important to have the humility to recognize your inherent, self-serving bias and counteract it through the following steps: Objectively assess your capabilities versus whats needed Fill your skill gaps and gauge your progress on the way Refuse to play politics in the process What the company needs Assessing your capabilities starts with understanding what the company needs in its next leader. Brad Smith, the former CEO of financial software giant Intuit, uses a horse racing analogy: The reason there are very few Triple Crown winners, he says, is because the Kentucky Derby is a very different track from the Preakness, which are both different from the Belmont. The right horse will win on the right track. If youre a candidate, first ask yourself in an intellectually honest way, What does the company most need? and then Do I have that skill set today? To understand if you have whats needed, and where you stand, analyze your abilities along at least four dimensions. The first is breadth of experience and record (for example, leading transformational change, delivering a profit-and-loss statement, and representing the company externally). The second is knowledge and expertise (as it relates to such things as financial acumen, sales leadership, technology, target markets, and industry trends). The third is leadership skill (for example, your ability to think strategically, establish executive presence, build teams, and show self-awareness). The fourth is the strength of your relationships and overall reputation. How are you viewed by internal stakeholders, such as your boss, peers, direct reports, and influencers? How about by external stakeholders, such as investors, customers, suppliers, regulators, and community leaders? And how do board members size you up? Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, summarizes success on this dimension as whether you have “followership.” The best definition of a leader, he reflects, is if people are willing to follow you. Consult others To help break through your self-serving bias, its important to seek others views. That might involve getting feedback from mentors, confidants, peers, and so on, but more often than not, you should ask someone else to gather that 360-degree information. The person who collects the feedback could be a trusted colleague, but most often, its an external coach. While some leaders view having a coach as a weakness, the best point to the sporting world, where no player or team gets to the championship without a great coach. Nasdaqs CEO Adena Friedman shares, “Before I became CEO, I was getting 360s and coaching over a period of years. The coach gathered all the feedback. Then I sat down with them, and we discussed it together. It helped crystalize the feedback into ideas for improvement and action. Robert Smith, founder and CEO of private equity firm Vista Equity partners, explains the value of doing so. If you’re right-handed, you usually have a weak left hand. A great coach, he suggests, helps you see What’s your left hand? What are you weak at that you can learn to be better at? And what are the things you need? A learning journey Once youve assessed how you score along these four dimensions, its time to start improving yourself. Think of it as embarking on a learning journey that involves cycles of taking action and then reflecting with a close group of advisers on the progress being made. Such journeys typically combine ongoing leadership coaching with participation in various forums or roundtables, visits to other companies, targeted reading lists, briefings from experts, and finding opportunities to gain experience and build relationships by dealing with the media, presenting to the board, and representing the company externally. Pursuing this path requires striking a delicate balance. Without being seen as self-promoting or currying favor, youll want to increase your visibility so those who need to know are aware that you want to make the final ascent. Ive seen this go awry so many times when people begin to run for the job, shares Intuits Smith. They almost campaign for the role, and thats the quickest way to throw you off track. How it all comes together Former CEO of Westpac, Gail Kelly shares her keys to success: Dont play politics. Dont undermine people. None of that ends well. Be authentic, transparent, a team player, and an active supporter of colleagues for the greater good, even if theyre also in the running for the role. Her advice reinforces the importance of taking a gut check of your motivations and intentions. If theyre not sustainable, you simply wont be able to walk the line with authenticity. Michael Fisher, the CEO of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center summarizes how it all comes together: Its a quiet ambition pursued with humility. You gain confidence as you go by learning and growing every day. Getting the balance right doesnt just set you in good stead as a CEO candidate. Its also a win for the institution. What company isnt better off for having more service-oriented leaders connecting across the enterprise and boldly solving for the good of the whole organizationespecially if theyre doing so while delivering on their core responsibilities, building their self-awareness, and developing new capabilities and more fruitful relationships?Adapted from CEO for All Seasons. Copyright 2025, Dewar, Keller, Malhotra, Strovink. Reproduced by permission of Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.
Category:
E-Commerce
At the Port of Seattle, cargo is always on the move. Longshoremen load and unload cars, electronics, grain, logs, and hundreds of other commodities from ships and trucks before these products land on store shelves around the world. The life of a longshoreman can be a difficult one, with long and labor-intensive hours spent on the waterfront. Yet, many of them say the work itself is not the most difficult part. Especially in recent months, as unpredictable tariff policies have impacted the number of ships entering U.S. ports, uncertainty is plaguing our ports and the workers who make domestic and global trade possible. Were very fortunate to have the jobs we do and what they pay and the benefits we have, but at the same time, the unknown is what keeps us from enjoying those benefits, says Kesa Sten, a terminal chief at the Port of Seattle and president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 52. An unpredictable number of ships Within a few weeks of his inauguration, Trump made tariffs a cornerstone of his international policy agendabut these are not the low, consistent tariffs of past administrations. Broadly implemented and ever evolving, the new administrations tariff policy has led foreign leaders to scramble for deals and has led importers to wonder: Are these high fees here to stay? At the ports, this unpredictability has led to inconsistent numbers of ships coming in: busy periods as importers race to get their goods into the country before new tariffs take effect and much slower days while they wait and see. Compared with last year, the number of imports the Port of Seattle is managing is significantly lower, on average, though spikes in activity during pauses or before new tariffs take effect have, in some cases, met or exceeded last years averages. Just this last week in the Port of Seattle, we were rocking, Sarah Esch, a dispatcher for ILWU Local 19, told Fast Company in early August. I think they were just trying to land wherever they could in the U.S. before the August 7 deadline. The August tariffswhich were implemented under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law that allows the president to take charge of international commerce regulation during a national emergencyhave been deemed illegal by federal courts. However, they will remain in effect until at least October 14 while the case is appealed to the Supreme Court, thereby extending uncertainty for importers and workers at the port. As dispatcher, Esch will continue to dole out jobs to those working on the waterfront all year. However, now that the busy summer season, when cruise and container ships alike flood Seattle, has come to an end, she is expecting much less work to be availableespecially for the newer workers hoping to become registered longshoremen. Registration comes with big benefits, such as health insurance, retirement, and first pick of available jobs at the port. Getting registered, though, can take many years and comes down to the number of hours worked. As fewer ships dock in times of economic uncertainty and trade instability, fewer jobs are available, and the registration process can become more drawn out and competitive. I need to be available, hoping to get work on the waterfront, Cole Lowenstein, a second-generation longshoreman working in Seattle, tells Fast Company. It takes me away from a lot of other things. Lowenstein has been a casual, the industry term for a dockworker making their way toward registration, for more than six years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he remembers there was so much work available that casual workers would compete to see how many days in a row they could work, sometimes reaching 30 or 40 days straight. This year, his coworkers were in awe of the fact he worked nine days in a row. With job opportunities slowing down, Lowenstein says he lives 12 hours at a time, always waiting for the next dispatch to see if there will be enough work to warrant staying near the port or if he should make the trek back to his home in northern Washington. I spend a lot of time sleeping in my car just because Im two or three hours away from the house, and its not really worth the drive back, he adds. These already irregular work schedules have become even more unpredictable in the age of ever-changing tariffs. What the tariffs are for High tariffs have been a key part of Trumps economic strategy since his first term. However, while his first-term tariffs targeted specific importssuch as electric vehicles, semiconductors, and steel, his second term has seen steep, across-the-board tariffs leveled against trading partners. Moves that are baffling to some economists. Our president has offered several explanations for the tariffs, Gene Grossman, an economist and professor at Princeton Universitys School of Public and International Affairs, tells Fast Company. Interestingly theyre in direct contradiction with one another. A White House fact sheet related to Trumps tariffs outlines his goals for the policy: reducing trade deficits, bringing jobs back to the U.S., and raising revenues. Regarding these goals, Grossman says, you cant have it both ways. Bringing jobs stateside would require us to produce more goods here and import less, but importing less does not allow tariffs to bring in revenue. Still, Trump has moved ahead, creating a complex web of frequently revised tariffs over the past few months. In early February, he imposed steep tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, though many were suspended shortly after taking effect in March. He then announced a 10% tariff on all imports to the U.S., which both took effect and was paused on April 9. And despite summer-long negotiations, new tariffs were unexpectedly announced in August. Nearly all U.S. trading partners are impacted by a set of broad-reaching tariffs, which have been in effect since August 7. A 15% tariff, if you knew it was going to apply to everybody always and it wasnt going to be changed next month would be a problem for importers . . . but it would be a known problem, says Grossman. The current unpredictable state of global trade is a separate issue for importers, Grossman adds, since it encourages firms that might invest in U.S. trade to wait and see what will happen, rather than acting. So far, the result of this wait and see attitude has been slowdowns in tradeand at the ports. The West Coast has been particularly hard hit, because it processes many imports from China and other countries in Asia that have been hit with high tariffs. Lowenstein has even noticed longshoremen usually based at Southern California ports coming up to Seattle to find work. Ive only heard rumors about how slow it may be [in California], but the rumors are pretty alarming, Lowenstein says. What today’s low registrations mean for the future For Esch, who was in the process of becoming a registered longshreman during the 2008 recession, the slowdowns today feel familiar. She remembers how the inconsistency of work added an extra dimension of uncertainty to an already difficult registration process. I almost moved back home because it had just gotten so dreary and I went through bankruptcyIt was tough, it was really tough, Esch says. Im good now, but, oh my god, I certainly wouldnt want to be a casual right now. Derailing the registration process for the next generation of longshoremen does more than inflict uncertainty on workers, it could destabilize the industry as more longshoremen choose to pursue other careers. After a long slowdown in work, if the number and frequency of ships coming to U.S. ports returns to previous levels, there may not be enough workers to handle their cargo, Lowenstein suggests. Entire ships can sit for a day, a night, a shift, two shifts without being unloaded, he says. The ripple effects of that through our economy, I couldnt even begin to articulate. The ports are responsible for an estimated $2.89 trillion in economic activity, according to a 2024 report by the American Association of Port Authorities, and they support nearly 22 million jobs. For now, many working those jobs are sticking it out, hoping the tariffs uncertainty will settle soon. They’re buoyed by the longshore community, which they describe as both vibrant and close-knitthe type of community that rallies around each other in hard times as well as joyous ones. Its just a huge swath of the American public that all work at the same place, getting to know everybody, Esch says. Were together for decades, so it really is like a family.
Category:
E-Commerce
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