Anyone telling you that you need to optimize your time right now is deep in their own freak-out and acting like a robot. Posting about how we can optimize our work output during this crisis feels off when so many of us are losing jobs and afraid our loved ones will fall sick (if they're not sick already). Reaching for quick fixes points to a deep denial about what is going on.

We need to learn how to do the work ahead of us in a way that doesn't consume us, that is not just sustainable but in fact deeply nourishing. I know that it's possible. What it requires is self-care.

If you understand exponentials, you can see that like a slow-moving tidal wave, COVID-19 is becoming a serious pandemic. Because of exponential growth, what seems like a slow rise of cases can quickly surge to overwhelm our health centers. ­We all want do our part to avoid this, so let’s explore some risk mitigation…

The public health system undertakes pandemic preparedness to be ready for a time like this. Almost everyone underestimates how much can be done to prevent more cases with simple behavior change.

Things are getting more chaotic as the pace of change accelerates. There are lots of reasons for this, but around the world, old systems are under tremendous strain. We're already in transition towards something new, but probably not prepared for the toll this uncertainty is taking on us as leaders.

Three minutes is the Minimum Viable Practice because everyone has three minutes a day to meditate. Everyone. New mothers, CEOs who live in business class, my friends on humanitarian assignment in Mozambique. In all my teaching, I have found this to be true.

Stress may not be optional, but how we respond to it is. People exposed to the same stressors have different stress hormone levels, depending on how each individual responds. We may not be able to control the stress we’re exposed to, but how we chose to respond to it is everything.

Exclusion and belonging are part of the same dynamic, and at the core is a need to be seen and cared for, as a member of a group. On an animal level, I don't think we realize how much connecting to other people means to us and how valuable it is for our long-term well-being.

The world around us tells us we're not enough, or we're too much, and we should [Fill-In-The-Blank]. I say no to that. You know what you need. Give it to yourself. Surround yourself with people who nourish you.

Assuming we "deserve better" means that something in inherently unfair. You're being treated badly by someone or something, which immediately takes away your power and puts you in the stance of a victim. We say it about a situation or a person, but either way, "deserving" invokes the idea that we live in a fair and just universe, that has somehow failed to deliver to us what we are entitled to.

Recent research now indicates social media actually causes depression — as in, there is a cause (social media use) and an effect (depression). The study, published in this month's Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, shows that limiting social media use to no more than 30 minutes a day significantly reduces loneliness and depression.

Learning how to structure your rest and align with your sleep cycles will give you the foundation you need to feel good the rest of the day. Your mental alertness will contribute to emotional self-regulation, which means you're more resilient and adaptable when stress comes your way.

Rapid technological change is fast creating a society that is going to be vastly different than the one we experience today. This is why leadership is so massively important. I want to explore just why exponential technologies are disruptive to leaders, because this can be deceptive.

As leaders and changemakers, I'd like to explore the idea of community accountability when exploitation happens. I'm speaking specifically here to people who do service work in challenging places, because the power dynamic that I’m exploring is the same in the aid industry as elsewhere.

We know the old tools aren't working. That's why, unless we do something about it, we're stressed out of our minds and unable to sleep, much less relax. Our to-do lists and obligations take us so far outside of ourselves that we spend the day rushing on our feet, forgetting to eat or drink, let alone rest or enjoy.

My hope is to break down what it takes to get therapy because when you need it, it is a very useful resource. As changemakers who are responsible for teams and leading projects, it’s up to us to address our stressors and take care of our issues.

Trauma-informed care for sexual assault survivors is available from only the most resourced health centers in a few places in the world, with no clear way to scale. So since 2015, I've been working with a coalition from around the world to create a mobile app resource to help sexual assault survivors navigate the health system. We call it the Rape Crisis Counseling app.

I hate to say it, but in a list of priorities, we changemakers are way too used to putting ourselves last. I hope you see that for us to be successful in this work, for us to make a dent in the future, how we treat ourselves must change.