A Productive Conversation

This episode is sponsored by Bento Focus — the ADHD-friendly focus timer that helps you do less, better. Limit your day to three meaningful tasks, build calm routines, and stay focused with beautiful Japanese-inspired themes. Try it today at dub.sh/mike-bento-podcast.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: LinkedIn Their Book: Love as a Business Strategy: Resilience, Belonging, and Success Check out their Podcast: Love as a Business Strategy Softway's Website: Check it out here Their new initiative: Culture+ Related Conversation: Episode 401: Dr. Michael Breus talks about Energy Management, Movement and Sleep Related Blog Post: How to Do More of the Things You Love 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 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. See you later.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Build a sustainable system for attention, rhythm, and trust with TimeCrafting & ADHD — a new course inside TimeCrafting Trust Premium. Start today for as little as $14 USD/month: timecraftingtrust.circle.so/timecrafting-adhd.

This episode is sponsored by Bento Focus — the ADHD-friendly focus timer that helps you do less, better. Limit your day to three meaningful tasks, build calm routines, and stay focused with beautiful Japanese-inspired themes. Try it today at dub.sh/mike-bento-podcast.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 a Fresh Start 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 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. See you later.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Build a sustainable system for attention, rhythm, and trust with TimeCrafting & ADHD — a new course inside TimeCrafting Trust Premium. Start today for as little as $14 USD/month: timecraftingtrust.circle.so/timecrafting-adhd.

This episode is sponsored by Bento Focus — the ADHD-friendly focus timer that helps you do less, better. Limit your day to three meaningful tasks, build calm routines, and stay focused with beautiful Japanese-inspired themes. Try it today at dub.sh/mike-bento-podcast.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 Reeves Related Blog Post: The Hard Stuff 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 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. See you later.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Build a sustainable system for attention, rhythm, and trust with TimeCrafting & ADHD — a new course inside TimeCrafting Trust Premium. Start today for as little as $14 USD/month: timecraftingtrust.circle.so/timecrafting-adhd.

This episode is sponsored by Bento Focus — the ADHD-friendly focus timer that helps you do less, better. Limit your day to three meaningful tasks, build calm routines, and stay focused with beautiful Japanese-inspired themes. Try it today at dub.sh/mike-bento-podcast.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 conversation, you might just change your mind about how change can be handled to work for you more often than not.Show Notes Connect with Michael: Website | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn Michael's Book: CHANGES The CHANGES Cards: Get a deck here Related Conversation: Episode 232 of A Productive Conversation Related Blog Post: Change for Change's Sake 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 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. See you later.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Build a sustainable system for attention, rhythm, and trust with TimeCrafting & ADHD — a new course inside TimeCrafting Trust Premium. Start today for as little as $14 USD/month: timecraftingtrust.circle.so/timecrafting-adhd.

This episode is sponsored by Bento Focus — the ADHD-friendly focus timer that helps you do less, better. Limit your day to three meaningful tasks, build calm routines, and stay focused with beautiful Japanese-inspired themes. Try it today at dub.sh/mike-bento-podcast.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 Conversation Related Blog Post: The Priority 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 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. See you later.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Build a sustainable system for attention, rhythm, and trust with TimeCrafting & ADHD — a new course inside TimeCrafting Trust Premium. Start today for as little as $14 USD/month: timecraftingtrust.circle.so/timecrafting-adhd.

This episode is sponsored by Bento Focus — the ADHD-friendly focus timer that helps you do less, better. Limit your day to three meaningful tasks, build calm routines, and stay focused with beautiful Japanese-inspired themes. Try it today at dub.sh/mike-bento-podcast.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 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 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. See you later.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Build a sustainable system for attention, rhythm, and trust with TimeCrafting & ADHD — a new course inside TimeCrafting Trust Premium. Start today for as little as $14 USD/month: timecraftingtrust.circle.so/timecrafting-adhd.

This episode is sponsored by Bento Focus — the ADHD-friendly focus timer that helps you do less, better. Limit your day to three meaningful tasks, build calm routines, and stay focused with beautiful Japanese-inspired themes. Try it today at dub.sh/mike-bento-podcast.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. See you later.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Build a sustainable system for attention, rhythm, and trust with TimeCrafting & ADHD — a new course inside TimeCrafting Trust Premium. Start today for as little as $14 USD/month: timecraftingtrust.circle.so/timecrafting-adhd.

This episode is sponsored by Bento Focus — the ADHD-friendly focus timer that helps you do less, better. Limit your day to three meaningful tasks, build calm routines, and stay focused with beautiful Japanese-inspired themes. Try it today at dub.sh/mike-bento-podcast.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 pick up Rob's book – that you will too.Show Notes Connect with Rob: Website | Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter Rob's Book: The Art of Noticing Rob's Email Newsletter: The Art of Noticing Newsletter Another Rob Walker Thing I Think You'd Like: Workologist Related Conversation: Episode 238 of A Productive Conversation Related Blog Post: What Noticing Does 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 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. See you later.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Build a sustainable system for attention, rhythm, and trust with TimeCrafting & ADHD — a new course inside TimeCrafting Trust Premium. Start today for as little as $14 USD/month: timecraftingtrust.circle.so/timecrafting-adhd.

This episode is sponsored by Bento Focus — the ADHD-friendly focus timer that helps you do less, better. Limit your day to three meaningful tasks, build calm routines, and stay focused with beautiful Japanese-inspired themes. Try it today at dub.sh/mike-bento-podcast.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 Ultimate Secret for an Organization's Success Perrine's TEDx Talk: Inclusion is the key to success Quiz: What's Your Leadership Type? Related Conversation: Episode 234 of A Productive Conversation Related Blog Post: There's Nothing Wrong with Being a Night Owl 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 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. See you later.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Build a sustainable system for attention, rhythm, and trust with TimeCrafting & ADHD — a new course inside TimeCrafting Trust Premium. Start today for as little as $14 USD/month: timecraftingtrust.circle.so/timecrafting-adhd.

This episode is sponsored by Bento Focus — the ADHD-friendly focus timer that helps you do less, better. Limit your day to three meaningful tasks, build calm routines, and stay focused with beautiful Japanese-inspired themes. Try it today at dub.sh/mike-bento-podcast.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 reveals the thing that a friend told her that she absolutely needed to hear and whether or not she was someone who journaled elsewhere before she created her own journal.I hope you enjoy this conversation. It's been in the works for a while and I'm glad I can deliver it to you now.Show Notes Connect with Becca: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter Becca's Book: The Implementation Code: Unlocking The Secret To Getting It All Done Becca's FREE Download: Get Unstuck Journaling Pages Related Conversation: Episode 243 of A Productive Conversation with Mike Vardy Related Blog Post: Choosing What to Chase 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 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. See you later.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Build a sustainable system for attention, rhythm, and trust with TimeCrafting & ADHD — a new course inside TimeCrafting Trust Premium. Start today for as little as $14 USD/month: timecraftingtrust.circle.so/timecrafting-adhd.