Productive Flourishing Podcast

Today’s episode is a requested reading of a previous published post on Productive Flourishing. Charlie answers a question about making time to plan and how he uses certain materials to organize and remind. The key idea is that you have to make time for planning, so that you save or don’t waste time when you’re in the doing. Key Takeaways:[0:49] - Conversation started with Eric Grey about their momentum planners - his concerns are about time spent interfacing with the system as well as time spent on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to plan.[2:02] - The hard part is the start-up cost of using a new system. Once you have the “roadmap” built, the time spent each week will be much less. You do have to regularly spend time with the system, but the planners help to make this easier.[3:57] - Charlie uses digital apps more to memorize and remind, rather than to sort through what he needs to get done. Once he has organized what he’s doing, then he will put it in the digital app. This helps keep things in the moment.[4:59] - A hybrid approach is beneficial when the time is put in up front. When you make time to make time, you start to see that some of the things you’re doing may not be what matters most, or it can shed light on some of our habits.[5:41] - No productivity system can override your choices - they serve to support and facilitate the self-mastery of your chosen goals. Mentioned in This Episode:Creative Giant Campfire Facebook GroupPodcast PageOriginal Blog Post: You Have to Make Time to Make Time  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

Mike Vardy, a friend and fellow productivity teacher, joins Charlie to talk about the power of defaults, theming your week, how to use creative/focus blocks, and how effective scheduling, planning, and decision making is really about being kind to yourself. Key Takeaways:[2:25] - Productivity should be fun! It is important to find a harmony between frameworks that help to keep us in check, and frameworks that are too rigid to allow for fun in our productivity.[4:18] - Charlie and Mike talk about what happens when they experiment with their schedules, and how we can prioritize our schedules to suit our personal productivity goals. This is especially pertinent to morning people versus night owls. When we experiment, we can figure out what works for us and what doesn’t.[7:05] - Both Charlie and Mike speak to the idea of spontaneity within a structured schedule. When it comes to free time, they both encourage doing things you really want to do during your open time. They talk about to-do lists and calendars, and how you can organize these to meet your needs.[10:30] - Mike talks about personalizing our productivity, and how that might benefit productivity in our personal goals, as well as in the workplace. How might this look for meetings?[13:00] - Mike talks about the idea of “whole-ocracy” and how adopting this idea might make meetings more efficient and beneficial for everyone’s productivity. Organizations need to have a framework that they can thrive within, rather than one they just survive within.[14:30] - Charlie and Mike talk about meetings, and the most effective ways to organize and carry them out, and what benefits meetings have for team building.[19:02] - Charlie talks about the idea of “strategic mindfulness” - having meetings where you can hash specific things out will prevent those things from taking space at other inopportune moments. This will allow us to present in other important moments.[20:23] - Charlie talks about Mike’s practice of theming days - in this practice, you have a default for the day; you know what you’re doing that day, and you also know there’s a time and place for everything. Mike also has monthly themes that help to funnel his goals for his daily themes.[25:17] - Creative blocks and focus blocks: if you have tasks you need to get accomplished, you can chunk it out into what you can get done into two or three focus blocks. It is more attainable to figure out what you can accomplish in 90 minutes rather than a whole day. Pre-planning also leaves us in a better place to set ourselves up for success.[28:00] - Charlie and Mike talk about the idea of fierce kindness, and how that affects pre-planning and actual execution.[30:43] - What is the balance between work and rest or work and play? There are appropriate times where it is okay to not be doing anything, especially if it will be beneficial for your physical or mental health. If your day gets derailed, don’t consider the day’s theme a failure.[35:40] - Many people focus on what they can’t doing during a day, as opposed to what they can. If we shift our thinking to what we can get done in the absence of other things, that can change our relationship with productivity.[37:58] - If you’re high-energy in the evening, lean into that. You can map your days based on your theme of the day, your focus blocks, and what time of the day is the best time to work on these things. With defaults in place, we can start to see a pattern in our productivity.[41:28] - The relationship is more important than the project. As we decide what to take on, it’s important to make sure we have the ability to devote our best time and energy to the project and the relationship. When we’re kind to others, we’re kind to ourselves.[44:04] - Mike’s invitation and challenge to listeners: theme your week! Figure out how you can theme your days and finish more often the things you want to get done and move forward.** **Mentioned in This Episode:Creative Giant Campfire Facebook GroupProductive Flourishing Plannersproductivityist.com/creativegiantMike’s Page - link to books and other resources  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

Angela joins Charlie as he tackles three questions revolving around how to take action on a good idea without it being overwhelming, how to discuss goals and finances with your business team without it being awkward, and which of the Productive Flourishing planners to use to get to your creative energy flowing. Key Takeaways:[1:25] - Alison wants to know how to get out of planning and research and into production. How can we get more connectivity between opt-ins, low- and mid-tier offerings, and service offerings?[2:00] - Ideally you would use a full customer journey map. Charlie suggests looking at those ideas in a four-part funnel: free stuff at the top, then low cost items, your medium tier, and then your high tier. In addition, he talks about what sorts of things typically fall into each category, and how those can anchor the funnel and enhance the customer journey.[6:56] - Charlie proposes that perhaps as experts, some of the tension comes from our quest to be very specific or cutting edge, but we must remember that our customers may come to us with basic questions. How do you take the conventional stuff you need to cover and make it really relevant and useful for your audience?[8:29] - Jen from the Campfire wants to know: What suggestions does Charlie have on if/how to discuss the financial side of a business with a small team, especially when it comes to revenue and bonuses? Scenario planning can be very beneficial in imagining/planning what you would do for your financials, operations, goals, and strategies (FOGS).[10:55] - Charlie talks about “open book management” and the spectrum of different ways you can discuss your finances with your whole team. You can share revenue goals without getting too specific about the breakdown.[14:08] - Too often founders and owners stress too much about the pay factor, and it is good to remember that part of the relationship does involve a good work environment, the culture, the mission, and the projects. The work there should be a benefit.[16:30] - A creative giant wants to know: Do you have any suggestions on which of your tools or planners I could start with that could help me harness my creative pull and get back in the game? Charlie recommends their “Productivity Jump Starter” and “Action Item Catcher.”[18:18] - Once you get rolling, he suggests either the “Weekly Momentum Planner” or the “Monthly Momentum Planner.” Each has its benefits depending on where you are with your projects.[20:21] - Many planning tools assume you’re going to be in the same frame of mind each time you sit down to plan. The different planners may provide different tools to fit where you might be.[22:58] - The trend across all three of these questions is grouping like things together first, then specifically deciding what to do with each, so you can organize your next step. Mentioned in This Episode:Creative Giant Campfire Facebook GroupLink to free planners - Download today!OmnifocusQuestions: email Charlie at charlie@productiveflourishing.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

In this episode, Charlie and Jennifer cover the “behind the scenes” of how Charlie gets stuff done. Tune in to find out everything from why he joined the army and how he applies that to his work to his workout and self-care routines. If you like “behind the scenes” or “making of,” you’ll love this episode. Key Takeaways:[3:13] - Charlie shares his origin story, highlighting what made him decide to go into the military. Although many of his family members also joined the army, Charlie didn’t feel pressured, but rather found that this is where he thrived.[7:22] - After eight years in the national guard, what routines or structures has Charlie carried forward with him that he gained from his experience being in the military? The biggest things are resiliency and internal coping strategies, as well as frameworks and codifying information.[12:12] - How has the resiliency and internal coping strategies helped Charlie coach other entrepreneurs? One of the main things is teaching them how to be adaptable people who can slide anywhere they need to in their business.[14:40] - Charlie mentioned that he works out two to three times a week; what does that look like for Charlie? He talks about working out with a friend, and overcoming the initial hurdle of making it a habit.[19:08] - What else is encompassed in Charlie’s self-care routine? Highlights include tea, meditation, and limited screen time.[23:35] - Charlie talks about his tech setup, which is all Mac.[28:30] - What happens when Charlie travels? Sometimes he takes his work with him, but it can be hard to get things done during the actual act of traveling. Charlie shares a bit about what works best for him for getting work done on the go.[32:00] - Jennifer asks Charlie to share some of his failed experiments. In addition to which he experiments he tried, he more importantly shares what he learned from the ventures that maybe didn’t go so well.[38:53] - Charlie talks about creating channels of communications with others. In the previous question he spoke about getting to know the content preference of his audience, but this also broadens to include seeking help from others.[42:20] - Charlie and Jennifer engage in a series of rapid-fire questions to better understand Charlie.[46:13] - What unanticipated challenge is Charlie currently facing? It is harder to let go of the manager aspects of his business than he originally imagined. Mentioned in This Episode:Creative Giant Campfire Facebook GroupJennifer’s Company: TERP Associates LLCJennifer’s Books: Mentoring Programs that Work and Real World Training GuideThe Creative Giant Show Episode 100 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

Today’s episode is a requested reading of a previously published post on Productive Flourishing named “Stop Lying and Start Creating.” The key idea is that we creative people are particularly adept at making up stories and lies that keep us from doing work - especially when it comes to research. Key Takeaways:[0:57] - Creative people have a unique talent that exceeds our ability to create. Charlie talks about meta-doing and how creative people often participate in this.[1:30] - While we’re meta-doing, we are in a comfortable space. Charlie goes on to explain why.[2:05] - It is easy for creatives to get caught up in research - studying other people’s work and going back to previous research. While this is part of the creative process, there is a point at which you have enough information to get started.[3:05] - At a certain point, research can make you more scared if you feel your contributions will be dwarfed by the “experts” and their work.[3:30] - Charlie gives some ideas of how to get creating for several different mediums. Create something in the world today! Mentioned in This Episode:Creative Giant Campfire Facebook GroupOriginal Blog PostProductive Flourishing  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

Toku McCree joins Charlie to jam about what they’ve experienced in themselves and their clients, and how to move through the guilt of getting what you want to achieve success. Key Takeaways:[2:16] - Obsession with tactics and doing and how it stifles their business and personal growth. Often times when people reach a certain level of success and plateau, they are not fundamentally focusing on what’s going to make the biggest difference.[3:25] - When you get to the top 10% - 25%, tactics only go so far. Leadership relies very heavily on who you are as a person, rather than tweaking the tech side of things.[5:20] - To make the significant change, the way in which you actually make decisions, actually respond to things, and actually see the world, have to reflect the reality that’s right in front of you. Reflective equilibrium: if our experience of the world is different from our theory about the world, we have to switch something - normally we change our theories to fit the world. [7:33] - Toku speaks about what happens when the world shifts so dramatically with some people’s success.[10:01] - So many people get stuck at an 8 out of 10 in life. But the work in those last two levels is where the real challenge lies. Your focus begins to shift inward to figure out how you need to grow and be in the world to achieve a higher level of success.[14:34] - In what way is a more virtuous man happy? This question posed by the Greeks is relevant to this topic as we think about what the payout is. Will you have to sacrifice something to gain the success you want, whether it be personal or business? Toku suggests the top 1% or 2% have mastered the balance between the tactics and the work on being, which aids in their success.[21:31] - Charlie and Toku talk about the benefits of having a coach or a group of people that can help dig deeper than the tactics and get into the being.[22:55] - Toku poses the question: Are you willing to experience the guilt of getting what you want? To peak the plateau, you may have to change the groups you associate with and the kind of person you think you are. Ultimately, you get to decide what group you want to belong to, and who you want to be.[28:53] - The thing you have the least amount of control over is the groups you’re born into, but the thing you have the most control over is the groups you belong to. It is hard work to live a virtuous life.[32:22] - Toku shares his own story about the being piece. [36:15] - Three-fold question: 1) Why do you want your business to grow a certain way? 2) In what ways do you want to pursue your personal growth? 3) How can you do this without there being a competition or a compromise? [39:58] - At a certain point in your life, your growth may not be accelerating at the same pace. It might be a 10-15% improvement every year, and that is just fine. Embrace the plateau.[46:45] - If you’re willing to sacrifice your ordinary excellence for something extraordinary, and become a beginner again, you can be in a place of being in continual wonder and amazement of what life can give to you. We have to learn how to fall in love with a process over and over again.[48:42] - Toku’s challenge: For one week, try to make all your decisions based upon the question: “In this moment, what would bring me joy?” Lean into the discomfort of choosing joy and accepting the guilt that may follow. Mentioned in This Episode:Creative Giant Campfire Facebook GroupThe Hero With a Thousand Faces - Joseph CampbellProductive Flourishing This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

Angela joins Charlie as they tackle another question & answer session, exploring the priority cage match, how to bring in more diversity into your company, and what to do when your plans are too intense. Key Takeaways:[0:54] - Can you elaborate more on the priorities cage match? How do you allot time to things in the middle?[2:41] - When you work on several things, it’s easy to see that some things may not hold as much urgency. As the cage match illuminates your priorities, there’s a middle section of projects and goals that aren’t the most important, but they’re also not at the bottom.[6:18] - Put these projects in the schedule and devote time to them, and don’t allow yourself to get distracted by other things. The progress might not look the same as with the first-priority projects, but that is okay.[8:07] - Do you stack functions or devote certain days to certain tasks? The more you can stack in the productive areas of your life, the better off you are.[10:57] - Some of these projects get stuck in the middle because we don’t give ourselves permission to do things that make us come alive.[12:45] - As a company which has started to incorporate more diversity into our leadership, how can we grow in this aspect, and groom people from more diverse backgrounds to become leaders in our company?[13:32] - Don’t be reactive about diversity. Be proactive about getting engaged with the communities you want to be diverse in.[16:53] - Diversity by design: Your organization becomes diverse because you design it that way, rather than hoping it will become that way. Be strategic about how you approach groups and market yourself as a diversity-friendly company.[21:07] - Make sure people from the diverse backgrounds have the awareness of, and same access to the professional development opportunities that everyone else does.[23:53] - How do you decide whether your plan is too intense-activity heavy? Do you have tips for noticing you’re doing this while planning?[24:45] - We don’t have as much of the high-peak creative time as we would like. We often under-account for how taxing mental activity is.[26:02] - Think about your work more like a fitness regime: you have to balance the sprints with the jogs and the walks. It’s better to put three solid points on the board every day, rather than some days where you have none because you tapped out the previous day.[29:33] - Working at a good 85% with 100% focus, and being okay with the additional margin, is a good place to be in because it gives you space to spend with whatever else comes up in your life.[30:39] - When you look at your list, really sort by how heavy of an activity is going to be. If you notice they are all very involved, look at how you can spread them out. Mentioned in This Episode:Creative Giant Campfire Facebook GroupProductive Flourishing: Project Cagematch This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

Kristin Reinbach joins Charlie to discuss the question of whether happiness is dependent on the culture we’re from. They talk about the difference between social norms of success and happiness versus our personal concepts of success and happiness. Key Takeaways:[2:45] - How did Kristin get to where she is today? What inspired her to get into the “happy-making business” she’s in now?[5:15] - Charlie and Kristin engage in a conversation about happiness in other cultures that seem not to make business endeavors a primary focus. Kristin specifically shares her experience from living in Germany.[8:07] - There seems to be a shift from entrepreneurial success to more of a focus on happiness and a good life. But is there a gender stigma surrounding this idea?[9:52] - Happiness across cultures can get convoluted because people think of the effect of happiness rather than the deeper level of flourishing and thriving.[11:35] - What if creativity was more important than well-being? Kristin suggests that perhaps happiness linked to joy is more of a short-term happiness, while creativity is a more sustainable version of happiness.[15:05] - As a Western culture, we don’t seem to talk about things like character and courage as much as we used to. These things can drive our creativity and our business.[19:45] - Kristin and Charlie talk about some cultural differences between the United States and Europe in terms of how we view creativity and success in conjunction with each other, and whether that career path is acceptable in that culture.[24:05] - What are some of the differences between the genders in terms of how they approach and react to their work? A good question to ask might be: How do you want to feel?[28:00] - We are conditioned by society. This can have a big impact on whether we should be happy (surface) versus whether we are really feeling a deep, internal happiness. How does age factor into this?[35:23] - Creativity is a great tool to extend our purpose and success beyond what we do day to day to make a living.[37:57] - It is important to recognize your own creative potential, and to be able to differentiate between your version of happiness from your society’s version of happiness.[38:40] - Kristin encourages us to reevaluate the way think about what should make us happy, and focus on more on feeling happiness at a deeper level. She presents four points: be conscious about when we should feel happy, pay attention to when we’re envious, be in touch with our feelings, and the 101 Wishes List.[44:26] - Lean into the things that matter to you. Find a way to reflect on the things that matter to you.[46:27] - Kristin’s challenge: do something during the next week that feels really pointless, and see what happens. Her invitation: be a good human being - support other people who are afraid to allow their creativity to flourish. Mentioned in This Episode:Creative Giant Campfire Facebook GroupKrysalis ConsultClub of Happy LifepreneursCoach Myself, by Cynthia MorrisFirst Class Meetings, by Michael WilkinsonThe 4-Hour WorkweekNonviolent Communication: A Language of LifeWipe the slate clean101 wishes - chicken soup book750 Words  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

Today’s episode is a requested reading of a previously published post on Productive Flourishing called “Welcome to Project World.” The key idea is that we no longer live in a world defined by careers, but rather by projects. What we finish is more important than what we’ve been doing and working on. Key Takeaways:[0:51] - Charlie suggests that the Industrial Revolution began a time when the world of work was “career world.” The focus shifted toward work that served a mass of unknown customers.[1:55] - Jobs in project world: In career world, we go to school to work for a company we’d likely work for during our entire careers up to retirement. In project world, the longevity of the same job is much shorter. Charlie explains why.[4:02] - When we leave a job in project world, the only thing we take with us are the things that we have finished. What counts is what we build, sell, or manage.[4:56] - Entrepreneurs and small business owners in project world: In this day and age, things are changing so quickly and that can put a lot of pressure on entrepreneurs and small business owners.[6:05] - People want to buy and experience a product - they will only buy our words for so long.[6:23] - General practices in project world: Finish something every day. Charlie calls this “shipping” - getting something out of our heads and into the world. We are the most fulfilled when we make progress on meaningful goals.[7:17] - We have unprecedented autonomy, adventure, and chance for impact via network effects. We are happiest when we’re actually finishing the work we’re meant to do. Mentioned in This Episode:Creative Giant Campfire Facebook GroupWelcome to Project World postDrive by Dan Pink This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

Charlie and Angela talk about values and expectations, priorities, and boundaries in order to amp up your holidays without amping up your stress. Key Takeaways:[1:25] - Intentionality during the holidays: what do we want this time to look like?[3:22] - There are a lot of expectations surrounding the holiday season. It is important to have conversations about how we’d like to spend (or not spend) that time with our loved ones. We don’t want that time to pass and realize we were unable to make the connections we desired.[6:04] - It is important to focus on what we hope to feel during the holidays, rather than the things we have to do. When we’re focused on a feeling, we can project that feeling into the world. Make some space to sink into that intention so we can embody that.[10:05] - The holidays can end up becoming a process of capturing several moments that we typically have idealized in our minds. It can be hard to reconcile when something doesn’t go as planned, but we can still embody love (or any other feeling) during those times.[13:40] - Angela encourages us to take some time to think about what our intentions are during this time of the year, to gain some clarity about what they are and perhaps share our expectations with others. It is also important to be clear about our boundaries.[15:50] - Having intentions around feelings rather activities will help with expectations. There is a probability that things won’t go exactly as we intended them to, but how we react to those unmet expectations can really shape the feelings around the event.[17:17] - Typically, a lot of the responsibility for a picture-perfect holiday is tied up in women’s work. Angela encourages people to look for ways to pull other members of the family in, so they can contribute something unique to the larger expectation. Also, make sure you take care of yourself.[19:45] - If someone in the family is really passionate about one of the traditions, one option is to enroll them and delegate that responsibility to them. Enrolling other people can expose just the amount of work that goes into certain aspects of the holidays.[22:40] - Positive boundaries are things we are going to do; negative boundaries are things we are not going to do. Boundaries are important so our focus remains on our intentions and feelings we hope to project, rather than getting weighed down in things we have to do.[24:54] - Being intentional in the right way leads to us being happier and less stressed during this holiday season. It can also help us have time to be who we are and do what we need to do.[27:23] - Our intentionality with this time of year and the holidays can help to lead us into a happier new year. Charlie challenges us to be clear about the ways we want to feel and how we can project that into the world.  Mentioned in This Episode:Creative Giant Campfire Facebook Group This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe