In this episode, Mike Vardy talks with David Allen, author of Getting Things Done. They discuss the pull of email, how to wrap your head around working by context, and what's different in the 2015 edition of Getting Things Done. Relevant Links https://gettingthingsdone.com/store/product.php?productid=17035 (Getting Things Done, Revised Edition for 2015) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9082205807/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=9082205807&linkCode=as2&tag=vardyme-20&linkId=JQNKDQ2MV6363HC2 (BrainChains by Dr Theo Compernolle MD.PhD) https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-wise/201209/why-were-all-addicted-texts-twitter-and-google (Why We're All Addicted to Texts, Twitter and Google | Psychology Today) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143122231/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0143122231&linkCode=as2&tag=vardyme-20&linkId=J6ESEMNB2WNWJN3D (Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength by Roy F. Baumeister & John Tierney) http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity-ebook/dp/B00KWG9M2E/ref=la_B001ILIG4C_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426618021&sr=1-1 (Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen - Kindle Edition) https://twitter.com/gtdguy (David Allen on Twitter) Want to send us an app, book, or something similar to discuss on the show? Email us at info@productivityist.com and we'll give it a look. Want to listen on Stitcher? http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=53149&refid=stpr (Click here.) Support The Productivityist Podcast by becoming a patron! http://patreon.com/productivityist (Click here) to visit The Productivityist Podcast's Patreon page and see what perks await those who pitch in a buck or more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Mike Vardy sits down with Phil Simon, author of "Message Not Received." They talk about the problem with email, why clarity is often lost in communication, and what we can do to make sure we have a far better chance of being heard when we send out messages to colleagues and cohorts. Relevant Links http://amzn.to/1FPu30f (Message Not Received by Phil Simon) http://www.philsimon.com/tag/message-not-received/ (Phil Simon's Website) http://www.informationdiet.com/ (The Information Diet by Clay Johnson) http://www.hipchat.com/ (HipChat) http://www.smartsheet.com/ (Smartsheet) http://blog.todoist.com/2015/03/02/interview-phil-simon-message-not-received/ (An Interview with Phil Simon, Author of Message Not Received | Todoist Blog) https://twitter.com/philsimon (Phil Simon (@philsimon) | Twitter) Want to send us an app, book, or something similar to discuss on the show? Email us at [info@productivityist.com][8] and we'll give it a look. Want to listen on Stitcher? http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=53149&refid=stpr (Click here.) Support The Productivityist Podcast by becoming a patron! http://patreon.com/productivityist (Click here) to visit The Productivityist Podcast's Patreon page and see what perks await those who pitch in a buck or more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of the podcast, Mike Vardy and Lee Garrett take a look at one of the biggest productivity drains on the planet: meetings. They discuss why they don't usually work as currently designed and what you can do to make them more effective and more productive. (The way this episode was assembled was inspired by the work of Myke Hurley over at Relay.fm. We simply fell in love with his http://www.relay.fm/inquisitive/27 ("Behind The App" series on Inquisitive) and decided to try to take things to the next level with our show. Thanks, Myke. Great work.) This episode of the podcast is sponsored by http://worklife.com/ (WorkLife). Formerly known as Meeting Hero, WorkLife is an online tool that helps teams have more productive meetings. By providing teams one shared system for all their meetings, WorkLife helps ensure everyone stays on the same page and nothing slips through the cracks. You can put WorkLife through the paces by visiting http://worklife.com/ (WorkLife.com). Relevant Links http://business.financialpost.com/2012/04/18/how-meetings-kill-productivity/ (How meetings kill productivity | Financial Post) http://www.ted.com/talks/jason_fried_why_work_doesn_t_happen_at_work#t-41552 (Jason Fried's TEDx Talk: Why Work Doesn't Happen At Work) https://evernote.com/partner/moleskine/ (Evernote & Moleskine) http://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-two-pizza-rule-for-productive-meetings-2013-10 (Jeff Bezos' 'Two Pizza Rule' For Productive Meetings | Business Insider) http://doodle.com/ (Doodle) http://www.inc.com/aviv-grill/playbook-effective-meetings.html (Aviv Grill on Effective Meetings | Inc.com) http://www.scheduleonce.com/ (ScheduleOnce) https://calendly.com/ (Calendly) http://productivityist.com/the-one-meeting/ (The One Productive Weekly Meeting You're Not Having (But Should) | Productivityist) http://productivityist.com/author/lee-garrett/ (Lee Garrett, Author at Productivityist) http://www.soliamsays.com/ (SoliamSays.com) https://twitter.com/soliamsays (Lee Garrett (@soliamsays) | Twitter) Want to send us an app, book, or something similar to discuss on the show? Email us at [info@productivityist.com][8] and we'll give it a look. Want to listen on Stitcher? http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=53149&refid=stpr (Click here.) Support The Productivityist Podcast by becoming a patron! http://patreon.com/productivityist (Click here) to visit The Productivityist Podcast's Patreon page and see what perks await those who pitch in a buck or more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brett Terpstra is one of the smartest guys on the Internet, and in this episode, Mike and Brett talk about work habits, workflows, and how moods and modes each help them deliver their work on a consistent basis. Relevant Links http://brettterpstra.com/ (Brett's Website: BrettTerpstra.com) http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html (Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule | Paul Graham) http://amzn.to/1EWP4ck (Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/77516971/the-week-dominator-a-beautiful-canvas-to-tackle-go (The Week Dominator | NeuYear) http://www.relay.fm/penaddict/140 (The Pen Addict #140: All Follow Up Extravaganza) http://twitter.com/ttscoff (Brett Terpstra on Twitter) Want to send Mike an app, book, or something similar to discuss on the show? Email him at [info@productivityist.com][8] and he'll give it a look. Want to listen on Stitcher? http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=53149&refid=stpr (Click here.) Support The Productivityist Podcast by becoming a patron! [Click here][9] to visit The Productivityist Podcast's Patreon page and see what perks await those who pitch in a buck or more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m not a fan of the term “have to" do. When someone tells me that I have to do something, I get my back up. I know there’s no maliciousness attached to the term “have to” but the phrase repels me all the same. Now if you were to say that I “need to” do something, that’s different. There is something about the way that term resonates with me that adds some level of connection that “have to” doesn’t. In fact, “have to” disconnects me from the task far more than “need to” does. “Need to" indicates to me that it’s something that will benefit me by doing. “Have to” indicates to me that it’s something that will not benefit me by doing (at least on the surface) but still needs doing. This week on the podcast Michael Schechter joins me and four-time guest Patrick Rhone to have a candid discussion about the things you have to do versus the things that you want to do, among other things. Want to discover some of the books mentioned on the podcast? Check out Scribd, my reading app of choice. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. Also don't forget to check out all of our podcast sponsors found on our podcast sponsors page. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. And if you want to have easy access to the archives of the show and ensure you don't miss the new episodes to come then subscribe to the podcast in the app you're using. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on The Productivityist Podcast, I spent some time chatting with (and learning from) Joel Boggess and Dr. Pei, the creators of a slew of podcasts including their latest, the ReLaunch Show. I decided to have some bonafide podcast experts on the program as my own podcast has just hit the six month mark of its existence and I wanted to find out what I could do to take things to the next level. Joel and Dr. Pei did not disappoint. You can listen to this week’s episode, where we talk about podcasting strategies, podcasting productivity, and whether or not we sit or we stand while we record our podcast episodes below. As I mentioned, having Joel and Dr. Pei on the show wasn’t just so I could have guests to interview. I really want to take The Productivityist Podcast to greater heights going forward, and I’ve started to map out what looks like. If you’re a Patreon supporter of the podcast, then you’ll hear all about my plans for the program starting this weekend as patrons receive weekly content that falls outside of the regular podcasting schedule. They also get other goodies, with perks such as exclusive monthly 20 minute Productivityist Coaching calls with yours truly and access to the Task Apps Made Easy course I co-created with Steve Dotto of DottoTech fame. Want to support the podcast as a patron? Head over to the Patreon page and we’ll all welcome you with open arms! If you want to support the show in another form, leaving a review and rating in iTunes can help more people find the program. I’d love it if you took a few moments to leave your thoughts on that forum, and you can do so by clicking here. Thanks again for listening to this week’s show. You can subscribe and get the latest episodes every Wednesday by clicking here for iTunes, here for Stitcher, and here for RSS. I’ve got some great guests and topics lined up over the next few weeks (and beyond), so I hope you’ll join me. Want to discover some of the books mentioned on the podcast? Check out Scribd, my reading app of choice. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. Also don't forget to check out all of our podcast sponsors found on our podcast sponsors page. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. And if you want to have easy access to the archives of the show and ensure you don't miss the new episodes to come then subscribe to the podcast in the app you're using. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’ve been spending a lot more time reading over the past few years. I’m enjoying it a lot more that I’m making an effort as well. I actually found reading a lot like exercise for a long time, struggling to get going with it and adopting it as a habit. Fiction was especially difficult to get back into because my brain seemed to fight it off more. Why? Probably because it felt that I wouldn’t learn from fiction nearly as much as non-fiction. That’s not true, either. Some of the fiction books I’ve read I’ve learned a lot from. Peaceful Warrior would be one of those and I’m now diving into The Alchemist for the first time to see if it can teach me anything as well. I’m making time to read more and finding ways to create more time for reading as well. With Blinkist leading the charge (allowing me to digest a book in a single session on the FitDesk) and Audible providing me with another way to “read” more, I know that I’m not going to be able to read more – I’m going to be able to read better. I talk about my reading workflow and ideas surrounding reading better on this week’s episode of The Productivityist Podcast. If you’re interested in learning about how I manage to read blogs, RSS feeds, and books effectively and efficiently, then give this episode a listen. Want to discover some of the books mentioned on the podcast? Check out Scribd, my reading app of choice. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. Also don't forget to check out all of our podcast sponsors found on our podcast sponsors page. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. And if you want to have easy access to the archives of the show and ensure you don't miss the new episodes to come then subscribe to the podcast in the app you're using – or you can do so on a variety of podcast platforms by clicking here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Patrick Rhone makes his third appearances on The Productivityist Podcast. I always enjoy chatting with Patrick because even when we don't see eye to eye on a topic, we always manage to find common ground on several others. This time around we talk about our disinterest in new year's resolutions and what we prefer to focus on instead. We also touch on how time and money can be treated in ways that are eerily similar and we finally get around to what we wanted to discuss – the importance of saying 'no' even when you're people pleasers like we are. There's lots of great stuff in this week's episode of The Productivityist Podcast, so give it a listen in the player below. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS. And if you want to offer some form of monetary support to the show, head over to The Productivityist Podcast Patreon page to see what perks await those who offer patronage. I've recently made some changes to the way the podcast looks in iTunes which should help with discoverability, but getting more ratings and reviews would be even better. If you've got a moment, head over to iTunes and let the world know what you think of The Productivityist Podcast. Thanks! Want to discover some of the books mentioned on the podcast? Check out Scribd, my reading app of choice. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. Also don't forget to check out all of our podcast sponsors found on our podcast sponsors page. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. And if you want to have easy access to the archives of the show and ensure you don't miss the new episodes to come then subscribe to the podcast in the app you're using – or you can do so on a variety of podcast platforms by clicking here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the podcast, I spend time with Justin Levy. I've known Justin for a few years now (although we only first met in person last year), and the story that has unfolded for him in the past few months has been very inspiring. Justin, who works for Citrix as Head of Global Social Media, is a young and active guy. In the late summer of 2014, he suffered a seizure. Then it gets even more unreal. "Once at the hospital I had another seizure. After conducting a MRI they found that I had a brain tumor sitting near the motor skills strip and in front of the speech pathways. It would be a few days before they realized that I had dislocated and fractured shoulders." Justin's been chronicling his recovery progress at his blog, Built Unstoppable. It reveals his story and everything that has occurred during this turbulent time. After you're done listening to our conversation, you should check out the blog. Want to discover some of the books mentioned on the podcast? Check out Scribd, my reading app of choice. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. Also don't forget to check out all of our podcast sponsors found on our podcast sponsors page. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. And if you want to have easy access to the archives of the show and ensure you don't miss the new episodes to come then subscribe to the podcast in the app you're using – or you can do so on a variety of podcast platforms by clicking here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Francis Wade is the guest on this week’s episode of The Productivityist Podcast. I worked with Francis back in my Lifehack days (he was a regular contributor) and I love how passionate he is about helping others get more out of the time that they have. His new book, Perfect Time-Based Productivity, is a great read. During this episode, we talk about the difference between time management and time demands, the importance of looking inward when trying to improve your productivity, and what to do when you fall off the wagon with your resolutions for the year. If you want to get more out of your time - and get a special offer from Francis - then take the time to listen to the episode below. Or you can subscribe via iTunes here or RSS here. Want to discover some of the books mentioned on the podcast? Check out Scribd, my reading app of choice. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. Also don't forget to check out all of our podcast sponsors found on our podcast sponsors page. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. And if you want to have easy access to the archives of the show and ensure you don't miss the new episodes to come then subscribe to the podcast in the app you're using – or you can do so on a variety of podcast platforms by clicking here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices