A little bit of procrastination isn't a bad thing.Getty Images/iStockphoto
Give yourself five minutes every hour to procrastinate by spending time on Facebook or surfing the Internet, says Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit. If you try to ignore that procrastination urge, the desire will erupt anyway because the immediate rewards are so gratifying; you'll actually waste a lot more time than if you had recognized the urge and limited it to five minutes, he argues. Over time, try to make these breaks less frequent, but still scheduled. The Big Think/YouTube
Sounds great, but do they do windows?
The Evernote tech company, based in Redwood City, Calif., pays for its 250 employees to have their houses cleaned twice a month. The company sees it as a perk that eliminates one thing the staff might otherwise have to worry about. The Business Insider
Lateral moves can be worth the salary cut
Don't be afraid to move sideways to another employer, even if it means a salary sacrifice, as long as it's taking you to a position you want, says Joanna Coles, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine. FastCompany.com
The hands-off site for the workaholic
Donothingfor2minutes.com will test your patience and give you a chance to take a break at the same time. The site has a pleasing image of waves and a sunset, along with sounds of surf. But if you touch your mouse before two minutes expire, the word "fail" flashes in red on your screen and the timer is reset for another two minutes. (Can you do it?) Lifehack.org
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Harvey Schachter is a Battersea, Ont.-based writer specializing in management issues. He writes Monday Morning Manager and management book reviews for the print edition of Report on Business and an online work-life column Balance. E-mail Harvey Schachter
Harvey Schachter