Recent Posts
How to Build Self-Discipline: Why Awareness and Intrinsic Motivation Are Key
Self-discipline is the ability to do what needs to be done, to stay in control, to accomplish your goals. How do you build discipline? Here are strategies I use.
Book review: Zen in the Art of Writing: Essays on Creativity by Ray Bradbury
This essay collection includes tips on generating ideas, composing stories, the nature of writing work, and the importance of practice. Do you know how many words a day Bradbury wrote?
Cooperation without Coercion: How to Motivate Children (5 Things to Try)
What do you do when your strong-willed child won't cooperate? Children love cooperating... but they also love showing their independence. Here are 5 things to try.
Important But Not Urgent: How I Manage Daily Incremental Routines
Before I had kids, I had a regular morning routine. Now? Mornings don't proceed the same way twice. Here's how I make a routine work anyway and ensure I don't leave important tasks behind.
How Reading Books Can Help You Reclaim Your Attention
Ever felt like you can't concentrate the way you used to? You're not alone. Scrolling through social media is easy. But reading a novel? You're in luck. Here's how to retrain your attention span.
How I Wrote 50,000 Words in Less Than Six Months (As a Parent Without Childcare!)
I write a lot—so how do I hit 50k words while also caring for my young children? Here's my secret. It hinges on one plain fact: The job of your first draft is to exist.
My Experience Writing Morning Pages As a Parent With Young Children
Julia Cameron initiated Morning Pages as a creative practice. In theory, it's easy to squeeze into your morning and leads to profound changes. In practice? Read on.
Freedom Through Constraints: Why Submitting to Rules and Tradition Helps Me Improve
I used to think I had to understand the reasons for rules before accepting and following them. Here's why I was wrong—and how tradition, history, and rules can help you, too.
How Curiosity Helps Children Build a Habit of Attention
Want your children to engage deeply with the world? Here's how to help them build a habit of deep attention and keep their curiosity intact.
How to Practice Self-Denial—and What You'll Gain By Doing So
Human desires are insatiable. But if we do the counterintuitive—practice self-denial instead of giving in to those desires—we build virtue, gain freedom, and step closer to the eternal.
Book review: Homeschooling with Gentleness: A Catholic Discovers Unschooling by Suzie Andres
This book discusses questions such as: Is moral education separate from academic education? What are common objections to Catholic unschooling?
Forming Good Habits and Breaking Bad Habits: Aristotle's 4 Levels of Virtue
Virtues are good habits. Vices are bad habits. We can learn from Aristotle's four ascending categories from vice to virtue when struggling to become better people.
The Power of Waking Up Early: 9 Tips for Becoming an Early Riser
I default to being a night owl, but rising early enables me to do more and be better. Here's how I switched my mornings from lazy to productive.