Drawing on research from the fields of neuroscience, faculty development, work productivity, positive psychology, and resilience, The Peak Performing Professor is filled with techniques, strategies, and practical tools for managing the complexities of academic life while maximizing professional potential. This much-needed resource reveals the four skill sets (PACE) that enhance peak performance and shows faculty step-by-step how to: Power their work and lives with purpose and meaning. Align all of their activities with that purpose. Connect with mutually helpful colleagues and intimates. Energize themselves to thrive in this interesting and engaging career. To help develop these essential skills, the book contains exercises that can help faculty hone their abilities to anchor their work, roles, and use of time in their most deeply held values; to integrate their personal and professional lives into a seamless whole; to experience more work-life balance; and, ultimately, to create a legacy of a life well-lived. Administrators will also find the book a useful tool for guiding their faculty to produce, stay engaged, and experience job satisfaction. "The first time I saw Susan present her Pyramid of Power model, I knew I needed to learn more. This book provides both the ideas and the practical advice that can help faculty and faculty developers make our lives more effective and more livable." L. Dee Fink, author of Creating Significant Learning Experiences "An amazing book essential reading for every faculty member. The integration of sound scholarship and practical advice is extraordinary. This book will power faculty workshops and faculty lives!" Barbara Walvoord, professor emerita, University of Notre Dame; author of Effective Grading

Develop and implement an action plan for self-care Cultivating focus, re-energizing oneself, and improving daily habits are essential for educators’ well-being and the good that they pass along to students. However, finding the time to implement new habits can be hard. Because small changes are easier to plan for and realize, Kuczala concentrates on the habits that are most likely to yield significant improvements. This book guides educators in meaningful self-reflection by providing: Five critical practices to increase productivity and decrease anxiety Reflection prompts and vignettes to guide readers in developing self-care strategies Practical checklists and templates to help educators maintain goals

Building a peak performing organization is not easy or else everybody would be achieving this goal. Organizations today are facing heightened challenges in remaining competitive in a more demanding global business environment. New technology, customer expectation, outsourcing, low cost competitors and needs for both higher performance and more inno

No organization made up of human beings is immune from the all-too-common meeting gripes: those that fail to engage, those that inadvertently encourage participants to tune out, and those that blatantly disregard participants' time. In The Surprising Science of Meetings, Steven G. Rogelberg draws from extensive research, analytics and data mining, and survey interviews to share the proven techniques that help managers and employees change the way they run meetings and upgrade the quality of their working hours.

Whether you’re training to play the piano, speak a foreign language, shoot a target with a bow and arrow, or master the techniques of fine carpentry, the conditions of your training will affect how successfully you learn and perform. How can you process needed new information in order to remember it better and use it in the future? How long should you work, study, or practice before taking a break? How can you counteract fatigue and boredom to improve performance if the task is tedious? This book shares practical tips to help you learn quickly, remember what you learn, and apply it to real-world performance.

Presents strategies, activities, and examples for parents to help their children succeed in school.

Performance Success teaches a set of skills so that a musician can be ready to go out and sing or play at his or her highest level, working with energies that might otherwise be wasted in unproductive ways. This is a book of skills and exercises, prepared by a master teacher.

Teaching history well is not just a matter of knowing history—it is a set of skills that can be developed and honed through practice. In this theoretically informed but eminently practical volume, Mary Jo Festle examines the recent explosion of research on the teaching and learning of history. Illuminated by her own work, Festle applies the concept of "backward design" as an organizing framework to the history classroom. She provides concrete strategies for setting up an environment that is inclusive and welcoming but still challenging and engaging. Instructors will improve their own conceptual understandings of teaching and learning issues, as well as receive guidance on designing courses and implementing pedagogies consistent with what research tells us about how students learn. The book offers practical illustrations of assignments, goals, questions, grading rubrics, unit plans, and formats for peer observation that are adaptable for courses on any subject and of any size. Transforming History is a critical guide for higher and secondary education faculty—neophytes and longtime professionals alike—working to improve student learning.

"Rest is the basis of dynamic activity. . . . Want to be more creative, loving, and successful? Follow Dr. Maas's powerful practical advice for doing less but accomplishing more." --Harold H. Bloomfield, M.D., author of The Power of 5 and TM "As the world speeds up and shrinks, physical energy and mental activity increase in importance, particularly with the drag of jet travel and 55-plus-hour workweeks. . . . Here is a handbook for successful survival." --William E. Phillips, former chairman and CEO, Ogilvy & Mather Do your eyelids feel heavy during afternoon meetings? Do you use caffeine to stay alert? Need a glass of wine to fall asleep? An alarm to get out of bed? These are all symptoms of sleep deficiency--signals that you are operating below your peak performance and beneath your mental capacity. Despite popular perceptions, sleep is not a luxury--it is a necessity. Over 100 million Americans are sleep-deprived, and make crucial business and personal decisions in an impaired state. In Power Sleep, Dr. James B. Maas, pioneer of sleep research at Cornell University, provides an easy, drug-free way to improve your body and brain for an alert and productive tomorrow. With adequate sleep, your potential is renewed every morning. Dr. Maas has lectured to top corporations around the country and the world on the importance of sleep. He has collected all of his research and time-tested formulas to create a lucid and easy program geared specifically toward helping you achieve peak performance in every aspect of your life. In Power Sleep, you'll find: The golden rules of sleep Twenty great sleep strategies Do's and don'ts of sleeping pills and over-the-counter remedies How to combat travel fatigue, including jet lag and drowsy driving Tips for exhausted parents of newborns, infants, and toddlers How to overcome sleep disorders, including insomnia An important and practical book, Power Sleep will help you get the sleep you need to quickly and dramatically improve your mental and physical well-being.

"A transfixing book on how to sustain peak performance and avoid burnout" —Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Option B, Originals, and Give and Take "An essential playbook for success, happiness, and getting the most out of ourselves." Arianna Huffington, author of Thrive and The Sleep Revolution "I doubt anyone can read Peak Performance without itching to apply something to their own lives." —David Epstein, New York Times bestselling author of The Sports Gene A few common principles drive performance, regardless of the field or the task at hand. Whether someone is trying to qualify for the Olympics, break ground in mathematical theory or craft an artistic masterpiece, many of the practices that lead to great success are the same. In Peak Performance, Brad Stulberg, a former McKinsey and Company consultant and writer who covers health and the science of human performance, and Steve Magness, a performance scientist and coach of Olympic athletes, team up to demystify these practices and demonstrate how you can achieve your best. The first book of its kind, Peak Performance combines the inspiring stories of top performers across a range of capabilities—from athletic to intellectual and artistic—with the latest scientific insights into the cognitive and neurochemical factors that drive performance in all domains. In doing so, Peak Performance uncovers new linkages that hold promise as performance enhancers but have been overlooked in our traditionally-siloed ways of thinking. The result is a life-changing book in which you can learn how to enhance your performance via myriad ways including: optimally alternating between periods of intense work and rest; priming the body and mind for enhanced productivity; and developing and harnessing the power of a self-transcending purpose. In revealing the science of great performance and the stories of great performers across a wide range of capabilities, Peak Performance uncovers the secrets of success, and coaches you on how to use them. If you want to take your game to the next level, whatever "your game" may be, Peak Performance will teach you how.