Hugh Culver

Productivity

13 shocking facts about how we waste time

“When you kill time, remember that it has no resurrection.” A.W. Tozer My bookshelf is full of books with the words "Time" or "Productivity" in their titles. One even has my name on the cover. At the time of writing, there are no fewer than 60,000 books listed on...

How to (finally) get organized and work smarter with Evernote

This article was originally published in June 2015 and has been re-loved and republished just for you. Every once in a while you come across a solution that is so elegant and seamless to use that you simply love it. That's what it was like 10 years ago when I switched...

Hey drama queen, maybe it’s time to embrace routine.

I’m having a boring week. And I’m loving it. Before I get to explaining what I mean, let me tell you about the kind of week I don’t love. It usually starts with no plan for the week (my Flight Plan is essential for feeling grounded and on top of my game) and goes...

How to Achieve any Goal with the Miracle 10 Minute Solution

This re-loved and updated post was originally published in March 2013. Everybody loves their goals: big projects, bold revenues, new products - the stuff Jim Collin's famously tagged as BHAG's. And it makes sense... In the corporate world, goals drive product...

Seriously, You Need to Stop Checking Email in the Morning

At the risk of repeating what I think is becoming increasingly obvious, we have all become idiots. Or at the very least, victims of the urgent. Let me explain. And, by the way, if you do what I am going to recommend in this post you could free up at least one hour of...

Life

Why you need to look back before you look forward

“Don’t seek for everything to happen as you wish it would, but rather wish that everything happens as it actually will—then your life will flow well.”— Epictetus How weird is this… Stores full of shoppers without masks, teams meeting in person (like it’s a new thing)...

How to change your life in five minutes or less

We all have wants. We want more time. A better/smaller body, more energy, money in the bank, love…whatever. We are want-machines and as soon as we satisfy one want we find another. Or two. Often we don't know where to start. Like how to start exercising after a...

21 Small Wins that can Lead to Big Wins in Your Life

"If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way." -Napoleon Hill “Our meetings are out of control!” a manager complained to me at a workshop I was leading. “I have so many in a day,” she added, “sometimes I don’t even have time to go to the...

Small Wins – why little steps are the path to big rewards

It was a cool July morning in the forest of Snoqualmie Valley, Washington. Just me and about 300 other nervous people in shorts - all about to run a marathon. It had been 15 years since my last marathon distance race. Back then, I was in my 40s, and long-distance...

How To Finally Stop Procrastinating On Exercise

This post was originally published in 2014 and has been updated in 2022. Enjoy! You don’t need more books about exercise and fitness. And I doubt you need more advice, tips, gurus, or videos on how to “gain muscle in just 10 minutes a day.” Don’t worry—that’s not what...

Habits

Why every day should be your day before vacation

I’m leaving tomorrow for a week of racing and paddling and something unusual is happening. Monday through Wednesday I crossed a bunch of stuff off my Flight Plan, but it was a battle to stay on task. On Thursday I was side-swiped by client requests and helping team...

Why it might be time to kill your dead-end projects

When Steve Jobs was unceremoniously ousted from Apple in 1985 the fate of the company was supposed to improve. John Scully had moved into the CEO office and brought with him all the corporate sensibilities of big business America. Fast forward 12 years, product lines...

Why you are so damn distracted and how to finally get stuff done.

Ryan Nicodemus was climbing the corporate ladder. He had new clothes, nice shoes, a fancy apartment and money to burn. He was also unhappy. When his friend Joshua Fields Millburn (they now run the popular Minimalists website) introduced him to people who had...

Aging vs. Decay – how to stay healthy, wise and sexy as you grow old

It’s funny how we’re so good at getting what we want today and so bad at planning for what we need tomorrow. We happily drive our crew-cab pick-up truck back and forth to work while our bike sits rusting in the garage. We gaily spend money on new clothes and big...

The hidden blessing of not getting what you want.

“Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.” Dalai Lama Sometimes I just want the damn Porsche. This week I was in Toronto speaking about how I built my speaking business. The room was full of consultants, speakers, authors, and...

Business

How I got 1,000 daily readers to my blog

It was a Tuesday. I had just opened up the analytics on my site - just like a hundred times before. And there it was. 1,000 visitors in one day. I was gobsmacked. I’ve been writing and publishing blogs posts for over 6 years. And for most of those years 100 blog...

This time management system really works!

I have been writing and speaking about time management for too long. And I think I was stuck. I was feeling the dis-ease that comes from the same infections in productivity interfering with me getting stuff done. Important stuff. Lists were growing on their own, small...

If this was easy…what would it look like?

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 the company was in trouble. David, in the world of computer Goliath’s, had swollen to hundreds of products, a shrinking bottom line and disenfranchised fans. Apple was bleeding cash and within months of insolvency. In short...

Five surprising lessons from starting a business in my 50’s

“With the sheer number of baby-boomers now approaching retirement age, the era of the “olderpreneur” is upon us.” Financial Times When I was a kid people retired at 60 - 65 if they didn’t like golf. When you get old, you retire. This was an irrefutable fact of life...

How to make your next speech unforgettable with the Blueberry Technique

It happened four years ago and I never saw it coming. I was listening to another speaker, waiting my turn to present, when I witnessed an otherwise boring topic being delivered brilliantly. In fact, it was done so masterfully I’ve been using his advice every day...

Speaking

How to create your first online course – step by step instructions

Sometimes it pays to get advice. Maybe you want to volunteer overseas, buy a real camera, or take up meditation. You could do it on your own, but it could be frustrating, expensive, or not get you the results you want. It's the same with building your first online...

PowerPoint Primer – the only 3 slides you’ll ever need

I don’t know if I was more scared or excited. I’d been invited to speak to over 1,000 Rotarians - my biggest speech yet (by an order of 100). I had just under a month to prepare. Every evening I hammered away at a script—adding, deleting, moving notes around until I...

How I Overcome Imposter Syndrome

The late Stephen Covey had a great line: “We teach what we most need to learn.” That’s been my pattern for far too long. If it wasn’t leadership, it was conflict resolution and, more recently, productivity. That works, to a point. And then there comes a time to teach...

How to change the world by teaching

Picture this — I’m asked to put together a 2-day workshop for company owners. I was in graduate school and had no idea how to create (let alone teach) a 2-day workshop. So, of course, I said “Yes!” That was the beginning of a 25-year journey as a public speaker. Fast...

So, you want to be a speaker…

There’s an old story of a man walking down a country road. He comes across a farmer, who’s repairing a fence. “Excuse me, sir” says the traveller “I’m curious what the folks are like in the town up ahead?” “Well…” the farmer replies, as he turns to face the stranger....

Author, Speaker, Coach