> “Corporations are people, my friend,” > — [Mitt Romney](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romney-says-corporations-are-people/2011/08/11/gIQABwZ38I_story.html) (and the US Supreme Court)

Wait, corporations are people?

Legally, (to a certain degree) yes.

On social media, they sure try to act like people.

You probably have strong feelings one way or the other, but just for two minutes, I’d like to set aside the arguments for and against corporate personhood. Instead, I’d like to ask a question:

Isn’t abundance reassuring?

It feels good to go to the grocery store and see the produce cooler stuffed with lettuce, kale, and even radishes (the D student of the vegetable family).

A closet full of clothes means plenty of options. No need to wear the same outfit more than twice a month.

There are 7,144 songs in my iTunes library. Half of them haven’t been played since 2008 (that’s literally true; I checked), but it feels good just to have them.

I teach a college study skills class, and my students and I spend a lot of time talking about procrastination. Two whole class days, in fact.

There are dozens of useful strategies for fighting procrastination, but one strategy is king.

It’s uncomplicated.

It’s quick to set up.

It’s highly dependable. In fact, it works virtually every time.

I call it raising the stakes, and it can change your life.

Seth Godin’s The Icarus Deception

Seth Godin asks a sobering question in The Icarus Deception:

What do you do when your comfort zone and safety zone are no longer the same?

Comfort Zone

Our job, (if we’ve been at it for a while) feels comfortable.

Our apartment feels comfortable.

An old pair of shoes feels comfortable.

Familiar things feel comfortable. The status quo feels comfortable.

Focus is underrated.

Let’s face it: even productivity nerds like us waste a lot of time. We spend hours each day flitting from app to app and device to device, cued by dings, buzzes, and little red circles with white numbers inside. It’s rare for us to spend more than a few uninterrupted minutes on a single task, even if that task is paramount.

There are many ways we can become more productive: