🚨 The Forge Your Future Challenge is back – August 7–9, 2025!

Join yours truly, Mike Vardy, for this free 3-day experience to reconnect with what matters, regain control of your time, and set your future in motion. Just two hours a day for three days—no fluff, just focus. Save your spot now: https://mikevardy.com/forgeyourfuture

What if “fun” isn’t the opposite of “work”—but the missing ingredient? In this episode of A Productive Conversation, I sit down with Bree Groff, workplace culture expert and author of Today Was Fun: A Book About Work (Seriously). We dig into how play, permission, and presence can transform not only the way we work—but the way we live.

Bree draws on her deep experience guiding Fortune 500 leaders through complex organizational change to offer a refreshingly human perspective on professionalism, productivity, and yes, pajama pants. This is more than a talk about workplace dynamics—it’s a conversation about reclaiming your days.

Six Discussion Points

Why wishing away the workweek is wishing away your life
How “fun” at work is often less about ping-pong tables and more about permission
The myth of performative professionalism (and the case for stretchy pants)
The role of novelty, creativity, and risk in making work feel meaningful
Environment as a silent force shaping our work habits and culture
How a simple question—“Was today fun?”—can reframe your entire life

Three Connection Points

Talking with Bree reminded me that the best kind of productivity—the kind I advocate for—is rooted in presence, play, and people. Her perspective is a timely nudge toward joy, and Today Was Fun is a book I’ll keep close for those days when the calendar feels heavier than it should. I hope this conversation lightens yours.

📘 Grab My New Book: The Productivity Diet: A Practical Guide to Nurturing your Productive Potential

If you’re looking to build a sustainable, personalized productivity practice that actually sticks, my latest book is for you. It’s available now—wherever books are sold. Learn more at mikevardy.com/lit or request it at your favorite local bookstore.

Episode 86 - Career Happiness and conquering your wellbeing (Interview with Laila Datoo)