They're not secret any more!

Even Dan struggles with work-life balance.

Here are Dan’s tips:

1. The world is not designed to help you achieve your long term goals. Passivity is not going to get you where you want to go.
2. Control your environment or it will control you. Optimize your workspace for what you need to achieve.
3. Write the things you need to do down on your calendar. You’re more likely to do what you write down.
4. You have about 2 hours of peak productivity, usually early in the morning. Protect those hours and use them wisely.
5. Meetings, email, multitasking and structured procrastination are the biggest time wasters.
6. No, you don’t need an email break. Switching tasks reduces effectiveness as your brain transitions. The more you do it, the less effective you are.

You don’t need to account for every minute. You don’t need to agonize over wasted seconds. It’s just about improving.

And none of us are infallible. When I asked Dan about work-life balance, what did he say?

I struggle with it every day. You and I are doing this interview and it’s Saturday, Eric.