The one and only Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, made a stop at my office as part of the tour for her fourteenth book , Thrive, and she dished out a whole bunch of life advice and inspiration. Here is some of the takeaways:
- Sleep eight hours a night. At one point Huffington collapsed from exhaustion and realized she needed to make some changes to her lifestyle. One major change? She worked her way up to sleeping eight hours. When you are well rested, you are more creative and more productive. Start by adding 30 additional minutes of sleep to your schedule and work your way up to eight.
- Spend time without your devices. Wonder why everyone has good ideas in the shower? It’s one of the only places we disconnect. Huffington thinks that technology can diminish the quality of our creativity.
- Value the things in life that will define your eulogy, not your resume. When all is said and done, our mark on the world isn’t the money we made or our success at work, it’s the other aspects of like that define who you are. Make time for life outside of work.
- Saying “No” is a complete answer. If you can’t do something, don’t worry about explaining why. Just say no.
- Saying “No” is saying “Yes” to yourself. Turning down an invitation gives you the time you need to recharge and refuel and you don’t need to feel guilty about doing that.
- Guilt is a toxic emotion. You need to take care of yourself!
- You can complete a project by dropping it. Focus on the important things, drop the excess.
- Multitasking is really task switching and it makes you less efficient. Do you thing at a time, and you will be more effective.
Kit Graham is the writer behind The Kittchen, a WCBC founder, and the data privacy expert at Groupon, who is desperately trying to convince her husband that she needs a puppy.