It's good to have a schedule planned out each week, but having too many appointments set for each day might be be more harmful than helpful. A recent study suggests the more self-imposed deadlines we have in a day, the less deep work we can get done.

Actors have a saying: You don't get 100 per cent of the parts you don't audition for. If you're an artistic type, or a writerly type, or even just someone who's looking for a job, you may have found rejections to be so painful that you've just stopped applying for things. Social media and streaming TV is so soothing - why would you put yourself out there for stuff you aren't going to get anyway?

The point of a holiday, however long, is to help you de-stress. And sometimes that means doing something instead of lounging around doing nothing. If you have a pile of personal to-dos that are weighing you down, using a leave day to get to those things you never seem to have time for can go a long way for your well-being.

I'm busy. You're busy. We're all busy. Sometimes, the sheer amount of crap you have to deal with can almost feel overwhelming, but a good way to get control of your chaotic to-do list without going crazy is to make sure you're getting enough downtime, too.

I have a bad to-do habit. I make big ambitious lists of things I want to do, then let them pile up in my to-do app until I'm so scared that I quit the app and start a new one. But I've found a way out of my to-do debt.

Starting a new job can be fun and exciting. If you're lucky, you can keep everything you do within the confines of the office. But let's be realistic: You're probably going to be working from home a little bit, either playing catch-up or sipping delicious drinks while you take advantage of your company's "you don't have to physically show up" policies.

As your personal and work lives start to intertwine, it can be tricky to manage the balance across your various devices. Here's how I did it.

The hardest part of doing most things is just starting. We often think about what a big project we have ahead of ourselves, and that's what makes it so daunting to begin. I know when I was writing my book, it seemed like most of my day was spent fighting the agony of just getting started. It was hard to ignore just how big a project it was.

Thankfully, I've found a great hack for getting started. It's called The 10-Minute Hack.

There's a lot to do. There always is. You sit at your desk well past quittin' time each day to ensure it gets all done, but in the end you suffer for it. It's OK to leave work on time, and these tips can help you make it a habit.

.

"Women almost never become art monsters because art monsters only concern themselves with art, never mundane things," writes Jenny Offill in her novel Dept of Speculation. "Nabokov didn't even fold his own umbrella. Vera licked his stamps for him." Women, instead, are forced to "balance" work and life.

When we think of leadership qualities, we generally think of the ability to rally the troops, a clarity of vision, and the willingness to coax the best work out of each team member. What we don't tend to think of is self-awareness. Self-awareness, in fact, has a certain new-age ring to it - what leader is lying on her hemp bedspread, staring at the ceiling and thinking deeply about whether she truly understands her innermost self?

We all know that sitting for long periods of time is bad for our health, but remembering to get up and takes breaks isn't exactly an easy proposition.

Sometimes (or maybe all too often), you have to churn out work to tight deadlines. The Done Manifesto is a set of working rules based on a sense of urgency. There's no time for careful deliberation - the key is to get it done and move on.

As we have argued in the past, email is not the problem - we are. And it's not just the productivity drain or the antisocial effects of constantly checking our phones and computers for new messages.

There are psychological ramifications too. By constantly looking for new information and tasks from other people, we are degrading the importance of the things we want and need to do. This flowchart explains what you're doing wrong - and how to fix it.

Derek Flanzraich, CEO and founder of Greatist, is obsessed with his master planner. It's basically the love child of a to-do list and a daily journal. Here, he explains how to make your own.

iOS: EasilyDo is a new app that aims to be a central hub for all of those personal things you need to do but would rather have technology do for you. It can clean up your contacts, let you know when to leave for your next appointment, give you directions and dial into conference calls.

Many of us consider ourselves either a morning person or a night owl -- times when we feel more productive, awake and think better. However, not all types of thinking tasks fit in with what we consider the optimal time of day for us. The Creativity Post points out that creativity happens when you least expect it.

We talk about productivity all day long, but it's easy to lose track of the basic scientific facts and tricks behind what we know works. ASAP Science breaks it all down in a simple way in the video above.

Rarely do we like doing anything we have to, but we tell ourselves it's a necessary part of daily life. That's the difference between adults and children when it comes to unwanted tasks. But as Tim Ferris points out, the kids may make the smarter choices.