1Reality Bites (or Does It?)Why You Feel So Overworked and Overwhelmed

Does Any of This Sound Familiar?

At a breakfast joint in L.A., my friend John was telling me about the first full day of his business trip to the West Coast. John and his partner own a successful strategy consulting firm that they started in 2009 right in the teeth of the Great Recession. Since then, through business savvy and a lot of hard work, they've acquired an impressive list of clients and built a team of 10 really smart people. Much of their success can be attributed to days like the one John had the day before our breakfast meeting.

“So, here's my day yesterday,” he began. “I'm up at 6:00 AM and in the rental car by 7:00 AM for a drive from my hotel in West Hollywood to an 8:30 meeting in East L.A. Of course, that drive could be anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half depending on the traffic on the freeways. About 20 minutes into the drive, I hear, ‘Cheep! Cheep! Cheep!’ It's the phone. I get on a conference call while I'm driving that includes a client dialing in from Denmark. I sort of have this out-of-body experience while I'm driving, thinking, ‘How absurd is this that I'm driving at 7:30 AM somewhere in L.A. while I'm talking to people in D.C. and Denmark?’ So, the call finishes, and I get to East L.A. a few minutes ...

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