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

Here is an extra special bonus episode with Dominic Zijlstra - the creator of the learning app Traverse.link. He's an ed-tech entrepreneur and polyglot. He helps professionals learn faster and remember more using science-based learning methods. Dominic built traverse to have an app where you have all the tools that you need specifically for learning and have them in a way that makes sure that what you need to learn is in your brain rather than just being a tool. We talk about learning and retention, we dissect traverse.link and why it really works, and we dive into where his obsession with learning began. He's been working on this app for a while and it's showing a lot of promise - I am excited to shine a spotlight on him in this episode of A Productive Conversation with Mike Vardy Links Worth Exploring Connect with Dominic: Website | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn Join Dominic's Super Learning Mini Course & Newsletter View and copy Mike Vardy's Traverse Mind Map here Related Conversation: Episode 397:

This week we are bringing this excellent episode with Josh Kaufman out of the vault. He is the author of three bestselling books – including How to Fight a Hydra: Face Your Fears, Pursue Your Ambitions, and Become the Hero You Are Destined to Be. Josh’s research focuses on business, entrepreneurship, skill acquisition, productivity, creativity, applied psychology, and practical wisdom and he’s someone I’ve wanted to have on the show for a long time. Josh and I carry on a conversation that revolves around the differences between How to Fight a Hydra and his previous books, the power of story (particularly fables and parables), why I never thought of Josh as a productivity expert yet he describes himself as such, and much more. I had a fantastic time chatting with Josh and I enjoyed revisiting this conversation. I hope you do, too. Links Worth Exploring Connect with Josh: Website | Twitter  Buy Josh's book How to Fight a Hydra: Face Your Fears, Pursue Your Ambitions, and Become the Hero You Are Destined to Be

Aye Moah, who goes by Moah (pronounced Moe), is taking over the helm as CEO of Boomerang which 2 million savvy active users rely on to spend less time on email and more time on what matters to them. Their loyal user base has saved over 500 years of their lives since 2011 that would otherwise have been spent in email hell. Ironic (or should we say iconic) for someone who arrived at MIT and announced they were going to major in Computer Science without ever having an email address. Yes, this 5’ tall woman who, literally dodged bullets growing up in Burma, clandestinely applied to go to MIT, got a full ride, and took the first airplane flight of her life to start school. And she has never stopped punching above her weight since. Listen to us chat about the Boomerang app, email, and geek out about productivity! Links Worth Exploring Connect with Moah: Twitter | LinkedIn Learn more about the Boomerang app Related Conversation: Episode 360: A World Without Email with Cal Newport Related Blog Post: The One Em

Join Laura Vanderkam and I having an easy and interesting conversation about Time Management. If you haven't heard our previous conversations, Laura’s work has appeared in various publications and media outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Today Show, and Fox & Friends among many others. She co-hosts the Best of Both Worlds podcast and has delivered a TED talk with more than 5 million views. We talk about her latest book, Tranquillity by Tuesday: Nine Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters. We cover the most challenging way that people found to calm the chaos and make time for what matters. She offers a simple and familiar way to future-proof something that you've scheduled. And most importantly, how the 9 rules came to be and how to work through them. Links Worth Exploring Connect with Laura: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn Buy Laura's Book: Tranquillity by Tuesday: Nine Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters Listen to Laura

This week I had Robin Hills on the show to talk about resilience. He's the author of the Authority Guide to Emotional Resilience in Business Strategies to Manage Stress and Weather Storms in the Workplace. He's the director of EI4Change, a company specializing in training, coaching, and personal development focused on emotional intelligence, positive psychology, and neuroscience. He has over 35 years of business and commercial experience, as well as spoken keynotes. We dive deep into what it really means to be resilient, what it isn't, where the confusion may lie and how confusion can rear its ugly head. Robin busts some old myths and how emotions are an important factor. Links Worth Exploring Connect with Robin: Website | LinkedIn Check out his book Emotional Resilience in Business Strategies to Manage Stress and Weather Storms in the Workplace Register for Robin's EI4Change courses here Related Conversation: The Year of Fear with Kendra Wright Related Blog Post: Book Review: The Obstacle is The Way

From the vault this week, we have Jon Acuff – a New York Times bestselling author of multiple books. In this episode, we discussed Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done. John's delivered some other great stuff since this discussion, including a book called Soundtracks that I highly recommend you check out after listening to this conversation. Jon helps some of the world’s biggest brands tell their story and has appeared on CNN, Fox News, Good Day LA, and other major media outlets. We discussed a sampling of the topics in his book, Finish, which includes planning, prioritizing, and reaching the state of finished no matter what you’re working on. Links Worth Exploring Connect with Jon: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn Buy Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done Check out his latest book Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking Listen to All it Takes is a Goal with Jon Acuff Join Jon's Weekly Idea Experiment Related Conversation: Overlap with Sean McCabe Related Blog P

Todd Henry is returning for another productive conversation. He's the author of several books, and an international speaker on creativity, productivity, and passion for work, as well as a coach for people and teams to help them generate brilliant ideas. This week, we are discussing his latest book, The Daily Creative. We talk about what it was like to put this book together, how you should go through the book, and then we take certain passages of the book and discuss them.. and it's very likely that the Cincinnati Bengals come up. It's a fun and productive conversation that you don't want to miss. Links Worth Exploring Connect with Todd: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook Buy Todd's latest book: Daily Creative: A Practical Guide for Staying Prolific, Brilliant, and Healthy Listen to the Accidental Creative Podcast Check out The Daily Creative Join Mike's TimeCrafting Trust community Watch this Quentin Tarantino video Related Conversation: Episode 340: Your Motivation Code with Todd Henry R

This week I am joined by the founder and CEO of Baronfig, Joey Cofone. Joey is an award-winning designer and entrepreneur living and working in NYC who has designed and art-directed over 100 products from zero to launch. With over a decade of ideas, notes, and journaling - Joey has published his book The Laws of Creativity: Unlock your Originality and Awaken your Creative Genius. A book that he hopes will serve the purpose of enlightening people on creativity; how it works and how they can harness it. During our conversation we dive into the different laws, discuss the way the book has been constructed, and we ultimately get to the idea of how creativity and productivity are related. Links Worth Exploring Connect with Joey: Website | Instagram | Twitter Buy Joey's book: The Laws of Creativity: Unlock your Originality and Awaken your Creative Genius Check out what Baronfig has to offer Related Conversation: Episode 228: Tailoring Tools for Thinkers with Joey Cofone Related Blog Post: Taking Journaling

In this episode, I am joined by Katie Stoddard. Katie is an award-winning international coach whose mission is to support entrepreneurs, founders and executives world-wide to reach higher levels of performance. She is the person behind The Focus Bee. She hosts a super informative podcast, The Focus Bee Show and is the writer behind The Focus Bee Blog. During this conversation, primarily around focus, we talk about precision, resilience, and the fascinating idea of equanimity. I enjoyed talking to someone who has a passion for productivity, and especially an element of productivity and its focus.  Links Worth Exploring Connect with Katie: Website | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter Grab Katie's FREE e-book here Listen to Katie's podcast: The Focus Bee Show Related Conversation: What Goes Into a Task App with Amir Salihefendic Related Blog Post: The Thing About Focus Thanks to all of the sponsors of this episode. You can find all of the sponsors you heard me mention on this episode on our Po

This week's featured vault episode is with guest, Jill Blumenstock! Jill is a certified Yoga Teacher and Vedic Astrologer, and has seen firsthand the impact of tuning into your own natural rhythms. It’s a time guide that’s beyond just your horoscope; you learn how to best manage your time. In this episode, we uncover how to chart your astrological patterns, how to apply it to your daily life – and hear Jill’s live reading of me! Links Worth Exploring Connect with Jill: Website | Instagram | Facebook Click here to schedule a Vedic Reading with Jill Buy Eviatar's book: The Seven Day Circle: The History and Meaning of the Week Related Conversation: Episode 331: It’s Time to Slow Things Down (Mike Vardy solo episode!) Related Blog Post: The Speed of Right Thanks to all of the sponsors of this episode. You can find all of the sponsors you heard me mention on this episode on our Podcast Sponsors page. Want to support the podcast? Beyond checking out our sponsors, you can subscribe to the show wherever you

It's never fun to feel as if you're stuck. But there might be some advantages to getting stuck that you may not see, especially when you're actually in that state. That's where Britt Frank comes in. Britt Frank is the author of The Science of Stuck. She is a therapist, teacher, speaker, and trauma specialist who is committed to dismantling the mental health myths that keep us feeling STUCK and SICK. On this episode, she joined me for a discussion about dealing with "stuckness". We also chat about the hidden benefits of staying stuck, Energy Management, and more about her work focusing on empowering people to understand the inner mechanisms of their brains and bodies. Links Worth Exploring Connect with Britt: Website | Instagram Buy Britt's Book: The Science of Stuck Check out Daniel Coyle's book: The Culture Playbook: 60 Highly Effective Actions to Help Your Group Succeed Related Conversation: Episode 420: Daniel Coyle talks about The Culture Playbook Related Blog Post: How to Get Unstuck: The Big Pa

On this vault episode of the podcast, I bring back Patrick Rhone. He is an author and speaker who helps guide people to the balance and peace that comes through mindfulness, introspection, and truth. Patrick and I have lots of great conversations, and not all of them are recorded - so this was a treat to revisit. This time around we focus on reading more (and better), mindfulness (and Patrick’s book “Mindfulness for Mere Mortals), and much more. I always have a blast talking with Patrick. I hope you enjoy the show as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Links Worth Exploring Connect with Patrick: Website | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn Buy Patrick's book: Mindfulness for Mere Mortals Listen to David Wallace speech: This is Water Related Conversation: Intentions, Time, and Saying No with Patrick Rhone Related Blog Post: Doing Productive vs. Being Productive Thanks to all of the sponsors of this episode. You can find all of the sponsors you heard me mention on this episode on our Podcast Sponsors

The more specific we get about something, the more we pay attention to it - and that's what we did with this episode. Jake Kahana is a designer and entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of Caveday, a company founded to maximize focus for individuals and corporations through facilitated focus sessions training. Their global community has participated in over 50,000 hours of deep work “In The Cave.” As a US faculty member with The School of Life, Jake teaches workshops in emotional intelligence for corporate teams. In this episode, Jake tells us how Caveday came to be with a couple of like-minded friends who wanted to focus on their tasks and build a community - together. We talk about the power of asking the right questions and how being open and vulnerable as an entrepreneur can be life-changing. Links Worth Exploring Connect with Jake: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn Get a 1-month FREE trial of Caveday  Watch Jimmy Kimmel & Jimmy Fallon's April Fool's prank Related Conversation: Episode 4

Mike is back once again with an episode from the vault. If you're a Todoist user or you just love To-do list apps, then you're going to love this episode. Amir Salihefendic is the founder and CEO of Doist (the makers of Todoist). We discuss what prompted him to create Todoist, what system he uses to complete his tasks, and dive deeper into what it’s like to work on developing a task management application in today’s age. Links Worth Exploring Connect with Amir: Website | Twitter | LinkedIn Check out Todoist Systemist: A modern productivity workflow | Todoist Blog How to create sub-tasks? | Todoist Todoist Business Related Conversation: All Things Productive with Carl Pullein Related Blog Post: Why I Switched To Todoist Thanks to all of the sponsors of this episode. You can find all of the sponsors you heard me mention on this episode on our Podcast Sponsors page. Want to support the podcast? Beyond checking out our sponsors, you can subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Click on

If you're into email management, this conversation is for you. Prasanth Nair has helped tens of thousands of people manage their inboxes through his email, meeting and time/task transformation trainings. An expert in not only productivity, but work-life balance. We've all struggled with email management at one point in our life, including Prasanth! In this episode, we discuss the difficulties around maintaining inbox zero and how he, with much trial and error, discovered The Stack Method.  Links Worth Exploring Connect with Prasanth: Website | LinkedIn Check out Prasanth's Email Video Series here Related Conversation: The Evolution of Getting Things Done with David Allen Related Blog Post: Going Beyond Inbox Zero Thanks to all of the sponsors of this episode. You can find all of the sponsors you heard me mention on this episode on our Podcast Sponsors page. Want to support the podcast? Beyond checking out our sponsors, you can subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Click on any of th

For this vault episode, I'm bringing back Sketchnote creator, Mike Rohde. Mike is not just a friend. He is a sketchnoter, designer, illustrator, self-professed techy, author and speaker who is fond of simple yet impactful design solutions. A sample of such is the Daily Plan Bar which he created to make task management more manageable. Our discussion involves the origins of the Daily Plan Bar, how he came up with it, and the other systems he uses to manage his work tasks and his home life. He has been a huge inspiration to me in helping me bridge the gap between written and visual productivity. This is a really fun conversation and I am excited to bring it back to you as a refresher or maybe you'll be listening to it for the first time. Either way, I hope you enjoy! Links Worth Exploring Connect with Mike: Website | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Flickr Get the The Sketchnote Handbook The Daily Plan Bar See all of Mike's Sketchnote products Check out Sketchnote Workshops here Related Conversation: 

Jake Kelfer is a lifestyle entrepreneur, a life elevator, and a coach to ambitious entrepreneurs, and freedom seekers helping people create incredibly impactful and profitable businesses. Jake is a three-time best-selling author, a high-energy motivational speaker, and the founder of the professional basketball combine that's helped over 70+ NBA Draft prospects turn their dreams of playing pro basketball into reality. He and his work have been featured in Forbes, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and many other major media outlets. In this episode, Jake gives us the inside scoop on his latest book The Elevated Entrepreneur: Unlocking the Secrets of the World's Greatest Coaches, Performers, and Entrepreneurs. He talks about some of his more memorable interviews and the reasoning behind the structuring of the book. And I throw some curve ball questions to really get him thinking. This is a really productive conversation and I think you will get a lot out of it. I'm really happy that I can bring this conversation to you

On this vault episode of the show, I am delighted to have two guests join me. First up is fellow Canadian, thought leader, and podcast host Dexter Guff, host of Dexter Guff is Smarter Than You (And You Can Be Too) and following his appearance, I speak with his alter ego, comedic performer Peter Oldring. While Dexter and I discuss a lot of the usual lifehackery stuff, Peter and I dive deeper into what makes Dexter tick. We talk about how he and his colleagues Pat Kelly and Chris Kelly (no relation) came up with the idea of doing Dexter’s reaction the show has received so far, how the show is crafted every week, and where the show is headed. This is a different kind of episode – and a little longer than usual – but it’s a fun one. Links Worth Exploring Connect with Dexter: Twitter | Instagram Connect with Peter: Twitter | Wikipedia Listen to Dexter's Podcast: Dexter Guff is Smarter Than You (And You Can Be Too) Hear Peter Oldring on his podcast Dexter is Smarter Than You The Truth About Fake News | Pe

Penelope Przekop is a corporate quality management expert, entrepreneur, and author of 5-Star Career: Define and Build Yours Using the Science of Quality Management. She has worked with numerous Fortune 100 pharma companies where she has held many leadership positions and is the founder and CEO of PDC Pharma Strategy, where she also serves as the Chief Compliance Officer for Engrail Therapeutics. If you aren't already impressed, Penelope also earned a BS in Biology from Louisiana State University and an MS in Quality Systems Engineering from Kennesaw State University. She is a graduate of the Smith College Program for Women’s Leadership and the Rutgers University Senior Leadership Program for Professional Women. As well as, co-founded Bra in a Box with her daughter in 2018! We dive into her latest book, the science behind quality management, and how to clean your systems so they work for you. Systems don't have to be as scary as they seem and she breaks it all down for us in this episode of A Productive Conve

This conversation is a special one. Not just because it is from the vault, but because this guest is no longer with us.  Craig Kulyk and I met at the World Domination Summit and it was an absolute pleasure to have called him my friend. I am attending the WDS while this episode airs, and what better way to honour his memory than to release this great conversation from the vault. Craig was known for his morning routines and his ideas on how to customize your morning to build better habits and be more productive. In this episode, we spoke about intentionality, how routines set the tone for the day, how you can shift and adapt your rituals over time, and more. Links Worth Exploring Hear Craig talk more about his routines on these podcasts Mike Vardy’s Morning Routine | My Morning Routine Mike Vardy’s Evening Routine | Evening Routines Related Blog Post: Why You Shouldn’t Spend Time Journaling in the Morning (And What You Should Do Instead) Related podcast episode: Episode 5: World Domination, Inspiration &