By now, it’s become pretty commonly accepted that multitasking can make you less productive. While it’s true that trying to do multiple high-concentration tasks at the same time isn’t a great idea, there are several times during the day when “double-tasking” can be your friend. By grouping the activities below, it’s simple to add up to four […]

You’ve heard the same “tried and true” advice from productivity experts for years. And I’ll admit it—I’ve given and taken this advice myself. But the truth is: A lot of it is a lie. Most of the “best” productivity advice doesn’t work. Here’s why—and what to do instead. 1. “Don’t Check Email First Thing in […]

Olark is the first company I co-founded. Starting out, I really had no idea what to expect. Previously, I worked for several years as an early employee at another startup; I had a fuzzy picture in my head of what I wanted Olark to look like, but I wasn’t sure how to get there or […]

The need to create can be overwhelming at times. The drive to invent, to make real life out of dust, to be a rising tide that carries all the ships out of the storm and into a harbor full of other ships all as shiny and teeming with ideas as your own. This is an […]

A business plan is usually one of the first things anyone with an idea for a business creates. However, writing a business plan can be like trying to read a crystal ball: You’re trying to predict the future of your idea. But setting goals for your (perhaps non-existent) business with limited knowledge of how your […]

Jay Schwartz takes a deep breath when I ask if there’s any difference between working on the East and West Coasts. It’s a topic on which Schwartz has intimate knowledge: his advertising, graphic design, and website development firm, IdeaWork, has made moves on both coasts. Santa Barbara, Las Vegas, and New York City are all […]

What’s in a name? For startup founders and small business owners, coming up with a marketable name that captures the essence of their business can be a daunting task. Much like new parents naming a child, business owners put deep consideration into what their company should be called – and for good reason. A company […]

The rants against the latest technologies and companies are old-hat at this point: that they isolate, they separate neighbor from neighbor, that they’ll all leave us all in Black Mirror–like stupors while taking profits off ads. And for some Silicon Valley companies, this doesn’t actually seem like such a bad end result. Better living through […]