The Productivityist Podcast: Ideas And Tools For Personal Productivity | Time Management | Goals | Habits | Working Better

I've always wanted to interview a football player for the podcast.Thanks to Adrienne Smith, I got my chance.As an athlete, Adrienne has won two gold medals and four national championships in the sport of women’s tackle football. Adrienne has also represented the U.S. in the sport of flag football, having won three silver medals in international competition. Whether on the field or off, Adrienne’s personal mission is to “empire” (empower+inspire) others – a concept she strives to incorporate into all of her endeavors.As an entrepreneur, Adrienne, an MBA graduate of Columbia Business School, is the co-founder of Harlem Hip-Hop Tours (a company dedicated to edutainment field trips for schools and youth groups), the founder of Gridiron Queendom (an enterprise dedicated to women and girls around the world who play or are fans of American football), and the creator of Blitz Champz (a super fun, football card game that reinforces math skills for children in grades 3-8).When it comes to media, Adrienne is a multi-hyp

Joshua Becker isn't just one of my favourite people to have a conversation with, he's one of my favourite writers. And his book, Things That Matter: Overcoming Distraction to Pursue a More Meaningful Life, is a book that I needed to read.I believe it's a book that you need to read as well.Joshua is The Wall Street Journal best-selling author of The More of Less and The Minimalist Home. He's also behind the site Becoming Minimalist and, as mentioned, is one of my favourite people to hang out with.We talked about why writing this book was a big deal for Joshua, falling into the trap of chasing the wrong things, and – wait for it – atychiphobia.Whenever I speak with Joshua, ideas really come to front of mind. You'll hear this coming from me throughout this conversation. Maybe it's that those things matter to me... or maybe I'm auditioning them for that role. Either way, I'm happy that we had a chance to make this conversation happen because it mattered a lot to me to make it happen.I trust after listening to thi

Meetings suck, don't they?Fellow Canadian Cameron Herold wrote a book with that title. But he knows that they don't have to suck.During our discussion, Cameron shares with me why meetings don't have to suck and how to keep them becoming something that sucks. We also talked about a variety of other things during our conversation because Cameron has covered a lot through his body of work.He is the Founder of COO Alliance, a Coach to CEOs and COOs, Keynote Speaker, and author of 5 books. He has coached hundreds of companies in 28 countries, built two 100MM companies, and his Vivid Vision tool is being used globally by thousands of companies.There's a lot to unpack from our conversation – including the concepts of priority management and situational leadership. I trust you'll enjoy this episode and learn a lot from Cameron. I know I did.Show Notes Connect with Cameron: Website | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn Cameron's Books: Visit his Amazon Author Page Cameron's podcast: The Second in Command Podcast Camero

The way the world works has been changed forever over the past few years. There's no going back to the way things were. It's all about adapting to the evolved world of work – one that involves remote work no matter which way you slice it.That's why I'm glad to finally have Liam Martin join me on the podcast.Liam is an avid proponent of remote work and has been published in Forbes, Inc, Mashable, TechCrunch, Fast Company, Wired, and The Wall Street Journal (among many other publications) specifically targeting the expansion of remote work. Liam's products and services are defined by the concept of giving workers the flexibility to work wherever they want, whenever they want.That's why I believe he's one of the best people in the world to talk about the future of work and the role remote work will play in it.We talk about many facets of remote work throughout our conversation, including his book on remote work. This is a conversation that is definitely another productive one. I hope you learn a lot from what we

I've been friends with Chris Bailey for years, dating back to our lunch at a diner in Ottawa when I was in his neck of the woods for a speaking engagement. We've had plenty of chats over the years and they've only become more frequent as the years have progressed. (After all, there aren't many Canadians who have dedicated their life's work to the realm of productivity and time management.)Chris is the international bestselling author of The Productivity Project and Hyperfocus: How to Be More Productive in a World of Distraction. Chris writes about productivity at alifeofproductivity.com, and speaks to organizations around the globe on how they can become more productive without hating the process.During this conversation we talk about focus and its effects on productivity, the different types of focus that he has written about, how to get around distraction, and much more.Over time, our stance on productivity and time management has evolved as well. And while I look forward to having Chris on the podcast agai

I've been interested in the Enneagram for a few years now, mainly because of my fascination with frameworks. And while I've had conversations with a lot of people who know about the Enneagram I had long wanted to talk to someone who knew a lot about it.That's why I'm delighted to have had this conversation with Ian Morgan Cron.Ian is a bestselling author, psychotherapist, Enneagram teacher, Episcopal priest, and the host of the wildly popular podcast, "Typology," which has over 17 million downloads. His books include the Enneagram primer The Road Back to You and The Story of You: An Enneagram Journey to Becoming Your True Self.We talked about how the Enneagram views the concept of passion, how to break free of your "broken" story, and much more in such a short timeframe. Ian also helps me figure out my own Enneagram number – a number that I figured I was but through our conversation was confirmed.Now that I know how to fix my own broken story, I can avoid getting in my own way when it comes to giving attentio

"I should have picked up Steal Like an Artist a long time ago."That was the thought that ran through my mind as I read the 10th anniversary edition of this work by Austin Kleon from cover to cover to prepare for this very special bonus episode of A Productive Conversation.Austin Kleon is the New York Times bestselling author of Steal Like an Artist, Show Your Work!, The Steal Like an Artist Journal: A Notebook for Creative Kleptomaniacs, and Keep Going. His work has been translated into over twenty languages and featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, PBS NewsHour, and in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. New York magazine called his work “brilliant,” the Atlantic called him “positively one of the most interesting people on the Internet,” and the New Yorker said his poems “resurrect the newspaper when everybody else is declaring it dead.” He speaks about creativity in the digital age for organizations such as Pixar, Google, SXSW, TEDx, and the Economist.I only had a short time to speak with Austin th

Joe Chura is an entrepreneur, inventor, and investor philanthropist. He founded and bootstrapped two companies, Launch Digital Marketing and Dealer Inspire, that both became two of the fastest growing companies in America, earning the #39 spot on the Inc. 500 and #5 ranking on Crain’s Chicago Fast 50. In 2018, Joe sold both businesses to Cars.com in Chicago’s largest acquisition of the year, and he continues to lead their growth and innovation today as CEO. Joe’s passion is using his leadership and health and fitness experiences to help others achieve their goals, which led him to start his podcast, Not Almost There, in January of 2021.I find out during our conversation what Almost Not There means and how he got started with it. Then we discuss Joe's unique meditation ritual, what you can learn from people (good and not-so good), the importance of small moments, and a whole lot more.Show Notes Connect with Joe: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram Joe's Podcast: Subscribe Here Listen to me on Joe's Podc

Sometimes I get so caught up in the conversation that I make a mistake.... But considering the guests I have this time around I couldn't have picked a better time for that to happen.You see, I mispronounced one guest's last name in the intro.That said, these two guests – Mohammad Anwar and Chris Pitre – had a hand in writing the book "Love as a Business Strategy: Resilience, Belonging, and Success" so I'm sure Chris will show me the side of love that exudes compassion and forgiveness.Mohammad started Softway at the age of 20 where he still serves as the President and CEO. Chris is the Vice President of Softway and he has a B.A. in Business Administration from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.We talk about why they wrote the book, how they were able to write the book with two additional authors, what businesses need to read this book, and how love can be measured in business to help quantify it more... if that's even possible.Show Notes Connect with Mohammed: LinkedIn Connect with Chris: Li

When Brittany Wagner reached out to be on the program, I honestly didn't know that she was on a dock-series that I'd added to my Netflix queue called "Last Chance U."I started to go through some of the episodes and found Brittany to be, indeed, the breakout star of the show.We spoke about the honest and vulnerability she put into her book, "Next Chance You: Tools, Tips, and Tough Love for Bringing Your A-Game to Life" along with elements that she and those she mentors face time and time again – things like the importance of choice and dealing with overwhelm.I didn't know quite what to expect going into this conversation. But once I was in it, I really enjoyed it. I trust you will, too.Show Notes Connect with Brittany: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram Brittany's Book: Next Chance You: Tools, Tips, and Tough Love for Bringing Your A-Game to Life Watch Last Chance U: Right here on Netflix Related Conversation: Episode 408: Thomas Anderson talks about Vulnerability Related Blog Post: The Potential of

My guest on this episode is my friend Justin Jackson. I wanted to revisit this conversation from April 2017, so I pulled it from the vault to share it with you once again.Justin is a ton of things. He's a dad, a husband, an entrepreneur, and a coach. He's the founder of Megamaker, cofounder of Transistor.fm, and cofounder of Meeps. He's also the author of Jolt, the creator of Marketing for Developers and Tiny Marketing Wins, and an overall serial maker.He aims to help people through the things they create. And he does a great job at that.On this episode, we discussed the processes of making and/or modifying. We spent time going over his systems and approaches in the different initiatives and creations he is working on.Relevant Links: Connect with Justin: Website | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram Looking for a podcast hosting solution? Check out Transistor.fm Justin's Email Newsletter: (It's Self-Titled) Justin is also on Twitch: Right Here Related Conversation: Episode 290: Creative Menopause with Chase Ree

Change is never easy. And it's constant.It's one of the things that we can rely on... even if we can't rely on what it might hold for us.That's why you're seeing the phrase "change management" so much more than ever before. You can't really lead change; you can only manage it.Or can you lead it?That's what Michael Diettrich-Chastain and I talk about during this episode of A Productive Conversation.Michael is a bestselling author, leadership coach, facilitator and professional speaker. Michael and his team are passionate about helping organizations, leaders and teams become experts on change management, communication and emotional intelligence. So he knows a thing or to about not just managing change... but leading it to where you get the best outcome possible.We talked about certainty and uncertainty and how the acronym he uses (CHANGES) can help organizations and their personnel deal with both. There's a lot more that we get into surrounding the concept of change and I believe after listening to this convers

As the author of "Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life," Luke has spent plenty of time and energy researching the power of desire. I absolutely loved getting into the book and wanted to spend some time getting into the nuts and bolts with Luke about why "wanting" has so much power... and what to do with that power.We unpacked a lot during our discussion – from impostor syndrome to needs and wants becoming one and the same (or appearing to be) to attempting to avoid choosing the wrong things to desire. I learned a lot from this conversation, making it incredibly productive.I trust you'll learn a lot, too.Show Notes Connect with Luke: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn Luke's Book: Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life Luke and I both use the Monk Manual: Get 10% off one here with the code TIMECRAFTING I also use this journaling app: Reflection Luke chatting with Ryan Holiday: The Daily Stoic Podcast Related Conversation: Episode 189 of A Productive Convers

Who is Thomas Anderson?Better still, who is Thomas Anderson to write a book on vulnerability?I ask this question during my conversation with him on this episode of the podcast.Do vulnerability and productivity go hand-in-hand? I think so.Setting boundaries, sharing limitations, dealing with overwhelm, are all part of them both. I know that once you're done listening to our conversation that you'll see the relationship between productivity and vulnerability.And you might just be closer to the aim of being productive rather than "doing" productive, too.Show Notes Connect with Thomas: Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn Thomas's Book: The Vulnerable Man Vulnerability + Ted Lasso: The art of vulnerability with Ted Lasso Another book I loved spawned from journaling: Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey Related Conversation: Episode 146 of A Productive Conversation Related Blog Post: Why I Journal (and Why You Should Too) Thanks to all of the sponsors of this episode. You can find all of the sponsors you

On this bonus (and sponsor-free) episode of A Productive Conversation with Mike Vardy, Mike is joined by his good friend Charlie Gilkey of Productive Flourishing to talk about Momentum, the productivity app that he and his team are developing.Mike asks him why in the world we need another productivity app, what Charlie is hoping to see happen with the Kickstarter campaign for Momentum, and much more. This audio is from a livestream that Mike had with Charlie on his YouTube channel so it'll sound different than our regular episodes. (Not bad... just different.)You can check out the Momentum app Kickstarter campaign here.Want to watch the recorded livestream? Here you go.Want to support the podcast? You can subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Click on any of the links below to make that happen.Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | StitcherYou can also click on this link to paste the podcast feed into your podcast app of choice.Thanks again for listening to A Productive Conversation. Se

Over the past 7+ years of hosting this podcast, I noticed something: I've never gone back into previous conversations and revisited them with you. So I decided to make that more of a thing going forward.The first episode of this podcast that I felt deserved to get pulled out from the vault was the one where noticing was the topic of conversation. Rob Walker knows a thing or two about noticing.I've gone back to his book a few times since I was first sent a copy to read for our discussion back in May 2019. Considering that I focus on the importance of both intention and attention when it comes to time management and productivity, noticing is a natural thing for me to explore further. Noticing is a habit that I need to nurture. As Rob so aptly put during our conversation:"It is not about your skill at noticing, more on the habit of noticing that sort of forces you to see differently and to see things that you weren’t looking for.”I'm getting better at noticing. I trust after you listen to this conversation – and

Perrine Farque and I had a conversation that revolved largely around her area of expertise: inclusion. That's also the title of her book, which came up quite a bit during our chat... and for good reason. You see, within its pages lies the ultimate secret for an organization's success.We get into acronyms (we're both fans of them) and Perrine explores one of them with me in greater depth. Other things we get into include a way to think of yourself than can help promote inclusivity, the ever-present problem of "impostor syndrome", and how to break through beliefs that integrating an inclusive culture into the workspace isn't as overwhelming as some make it out to be.Perrine drove the strategy at companies such as Facebook and is on a mission to make the workplace more inclusive and diverse. After listening to this conversation, I think you'll see that she is well on her way to accomplishing that mission.Show Notes Connect with Perrine: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter Perrine's Book: Inclusion: The Ult

Becca Ribbing knows a thing of two about, well... giving things thought.She's the author of The Clarity Journal, so clarity is something she givers a lot of attention to. The change to the way I kick off each episode was the result of me getting clear about what I wanted to achieve at the start of the show, so I wanted to talk with Becca about the importance of clarity and mindful productivity.Becca has been a coach for over a decade, helping women going back and forth with the big, seemingly endless question of what to do next. They also may not be entirely aware of what they're getting into. As she says during our discussion:"When people area ready to jump to a new level, they don't always take stock of everything that's going into it."When Becca steps in, anyone she works with can stop going around in circles and finally figure out what they truly want... and create the clarity and momentum they crave. During our discussion, Becca goes into how she came up with the concept for The Clarity Journal. She also

Productivity makes Stacy Tuschl tick.In addition to being a Small Business Growth Coach, Stacy is a bestselling author, and founder of the Foot Traffic Formula - helping small businesses around the world get more customers in the door, more profit in their pocket and more happiness in their homes. Stacy's started a bunch of prosperous ventures – including turning a company she started in her parents' backyard at the age of 18 into a multi-million dollar enterprise that she still runs today.As I went through her new book, I found myself "dog-earing" it relentlessly. The book is titled The Implementation Code: Unlocking The Secret To Getting It All Done and when I was able to secure another conversation with Stacy – she's been on he podcast before as you'll see in the show notes – I knew we'd have plenty to discuss.Stacy and I talk about the things people don't want to do but that we all need to do. Then we discuss the importance of maintenance, as illustrated in these words from Stacy:"Without maintenance thin

Find out how to move from survival to thriving with your business with economist-turned-entrepreneur John Meese.John is on a personal mission to eradicate generational poverty by helping entrepreneurs create thriving businesses which is why he wrote ‘Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy (Including This One)’. John is CEO of Cowork.Inc, Co-founder of Notable, and host of the Thrive School podcast.It was great having John back on the show to discuss his latest book. We discussed how to embrace problems, strategies of growing a business, being around like-minded people, and the power of coworking spaces.  Talking Points His process of writing the book  The profit-first mindset The theme of service throughout his research The five ways of growing a business Having the right people around you John’s coworking space Moving from the survival to the thriving state of your business Quote"As an entrepreneur, the world is counting on you to solve problems."Helpful Links Episode 336: Visi