Beyond the To-Do List - Productivity for Work and Life

This week I was delighted to welcome my friend of nearly ten years Lauren Gaggioli to the show for a practical and insightful conversation about purpose, parenting, and productivity. Lauren is a dynamic entrepreneur, educator, and a true advocate for purpose-driven living. She excels at leveraging technology to make her mark on the world, but she also finds joy and fulfillment in domestic activities like knitting, gardening, and brewing beer. In our conversation, we dive deep into the challenges of finding balance and control in our daily lives. Lauren shares her experiences of being productive as a spouse, a parent of young children and as an entrepreneur, highlighting the importance of communication, compromise, and creating a family culture that works for everyone. We also explore Lauren's passion for teaching and helping others realize their dreams while discussing her new duo of online courses. Big Why Life, the first of Lauren’s courses, is designed to help individuals assess their values, determine their purpose, and take action. A perfect course for high school or college students, it leverages the observations Lauren made while running a tutoring company that offered online ACT and SAT courses, prioritizing completion over perfection and embracing frameworks over strict formulas. In her second course Organic Marketing Ecosystem, Lauren examines business and content strategy, with a focus on search engine optimization (SEO) to help entrepreneurs refine their target audience and convert online strangers into clients. Join us on this episode as we delve into the intricacies of parenting, entrepreneurship, and finding balance in a rapidly changing world. Discover how you can align your actions with your purpose, improve communication within your family, and cultivate a meaningful life that harmonizes personal pursuits with responsibilities.Make sure to check out our sponsors to help support the show!Connect with Lauren:Website Linkedin Instagram Connect with Erik:Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Instagram ________________________________________ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week I was really excited to speak with my friend and former colleague Phil Mershon about his new book, Unforgettable: The Art and Science of Creating Memorable Experiences. Phil is the director of experience for Social Media Examiner where for over 12 years he has created amazing customer experiences at events like Social Media Marketing World and the Social Media Success Summit. Phil and I worked together at Social Media Examiner and throughout his 30+ year career he has been creating memorable experiences for businesses like non-profits, schools, and churches. In this new book Phil has compiled the knowledge that he has accumulated throughout his career into an amazing guide for both event creators as well as conference or event attendees. I’m sure you're aware of the adage, “This meeting could have been an email.” Well in many ways if you're anything like me you have been to conferences or events that feel like they should have been a meeting. Phil’s book looks to correct this trend by laying out the principles and best practices for building unforgettable events with truly useful takeaways.In this conversation Phil lays out some of his tried and true techniques for creating events both in person and online that generate team building while encouraging the interplay between in-person and online interactions. Phil also points out how events can minimize distractions and create an environment conducive to both focus and engagement. In many ways Phil sees himself as a kind of “game designer” responsible for creating experiences that are both engaging while simultaneously being rewarding and fun. Listeners will gain valuable insights into maximizing the impact of in-person events, improving engagement and productivity, and developing a deep understanding of attendees' needs while also improving their own attendee IQ to get the most out of their next work event or conference.______________________________________________________________Connect with Phil:Website BookLinkedin Twitter Facebook InstagramConnect with Erik:Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Instagram Make sure to check out our sponsors here to help support the show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week I’m excited to welcome Anna Dearmon Kornick to the show to discuss her new book Time Management Essentials: The Tools You Need to Maximize Your Attention, Energy, and Productivity. Recently Anna invited me on her podcast, ‘It’s ABout Time’ for a chat about my journey through the world of productivity and why better time management takes time. I really enjoyed my appearance on that show so I was happy to pass along the invitation for her to join me here on Beyond the To-Do List.Anna is a Time Management Coach who helps busy professionals and business owners master time management so they can stop feeling overwhelmed and start spending time on what matters most. In our chat Anna shares her personal journey towards finding purpose, setting goals, and maximizing productivity while unpacking the inspirations behind her great new book. Time management isn't just about rearranging your schedule to fit everything in. It starts from a place of purpose and knowing what truly matters to you. In Time Management Essentials Anna aims to anchor us to time management with purpose and provide readers with a roadmap to identify and articulate your own purpose in order to both structure our priorities and our schedules. In addition to helping us finding deeper significance in our scheduling Anna also implements a visualization technique using boulders, big rocks, and pebbles to prioritize tasks, and discusses the importance of getting mentally organized, as well as sharing tips for scheduling parenting and homeownership responsibilities. This is a small, easy to read book that packs a powerful productivity punch for anyone interested in learning tried and true techniques from a true time management master._________________________________________________________Erik’s appearance on Anna’s show ‘It’s ABout Time’ Big Rocks VideoConnect with Anna:WebsiteBookLinkedinTwitterInstagramConnect with Erik:Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Instagram Make sure to check out our sponsors here to help support the show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oliver Burkeman, author of 'Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals', shares his fresh perspective on productivity, urging a humane approach to managing our limited time. He emphasizes accepting our human limitations as a path to realistic goals instead of stress. The conversation dives into the balance between flexibility and intention in productivity, advocating for decisions driven by intuition. Burkeman argues for redefining tasks as enjoyable pursuits rather than obligations, ultimately promoting a richer experience of time and personal fulfillment.

This week I’m excited to welcome Brittany Berger to the show to discuss productivity, fighting hustle culture, and helping creatives balance, work and rest. Brittany is the founder of Work Brighter where she talks and teaches about inclusive productivity and helping disabled, chronically ill, mentally ill and neurodivergent creatives find work balance. I’ve admired Brittany’s writing for some time now and enjoy reading about what she's doing with Work Brighter in her weekly newsletter. In this episode we explore how productivity is all about finding the “best method for you” that both empowers you to get things done without experiencing exhaustion, feelings of laziness, or even guilt. Brittany breaks down some of her favorite techniques for working productively without experiencing fatigue or mental stress. In addition we discuss the value in journaling or tracking your time and your energy levels so you can find those ebbs and flows not just in your personal physiology, psychology and emotions, but also as a way to match your tasks so you're not overloaded and not expecting more of yourself than you should. Connect with Brittany: WebsiteNewsletterTwitterDiscover Work Brighter:WebsiteInstagramConnect with Erik:Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Instagram  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week I’m excited to welcome Mike Williams to the podcast to discuss his new book Doing to Done: Productivity Made Simple Illustrated For Busy People Like Us. I was really delighted by the design, illustrations and readable nature of this book. Doing to Done is all about simplified, illustrated, easy-to-implement techniques that help you decrease overwhelm and turn chaos into clarity. It's a better way to be the best. This book teaches anyone how to cultivate quick wins that lead to big-time impacts in all areas of your life, for the rest of your life. Mike Williams is a speaker, author, executive, and coach who helps leaders obtain small wins with a big impact on their lives and businesses. He gives people the actionable tools to succeed on their terms with less effort AND be at the top of their game in all areas of life.Through his leadership roles with General Electric, The David Allen Company, and Zappos, Mike kept noticing that people were desperate for a better path to productivity to help them fight digital distractions, mind clutter, and wasteful uses of their time. But the only resources available involved complex approaches, reading thick self-help books, or participating in boring seminars. He knew a better way existed—one rooted in simplicity and realism. So in his pursuit, he spent two decades working with thousands of people across different industries--from rocket scientists to students to nonprofit organizations.Connect with Mike: WebsiteFree Webinar Book TwitterInstagramLinkedinConnect with Erik:Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Instagram ________________________________________ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week I'm excited to welcome Lizzie Penny and Alex Hirst to the show to discuss their new book, Workstyle: A revolution for well being, productivity and society. If you're like me, perhaps you have heard or even used the term “workstyle” in the past without truly reflecting on the overall meaning or concept. As it turns out my guests this week coined the term nearly a decade ago during an inspired conversation at a pub. Little did they know that that conversation would lead them to co-found the multi-million pound social enterprise Hoxby to test and prove the concept of workstyle. Today Hoxby has helped thousands of workstylers around the world to set, project and respect their own workstyles. They have set up their own longitudinal research study into the link between autonomy, productivity and wellbeing and have delivered projects for some of the biggest businesses in the world including Unilever, Amazon, AIA, and Merck. Forbes.com have described them as 'creating the freelance revolution 3.0' and they have been featured in the FT, Times, Telegraph, Stylist, Marie Claire, Metro and The Guardian, among others.I really enjoyed this book and believe that it will start to help countless people and businesses find relief from their work conditioning, inspire them to create a workstyle for themselves, and enable them to take part in the most significant change to working practices since 1817. By giving you the complete freedom to identify and pursue a way of working which fits around the unique nature of your lifestyle, this book can teach us how to be well, work better and do great things on our own time. Connect with Lizzie and Alex WebsiteJoin The RevolutionBook Lizzie’s InstagramAlex’s Instagram Connect with Erik:Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Instagram ________________________________________ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week I was excited to welcome Scott Miller to the show for a great talk about his latest book, Master Mentors Volume 2: 30 Transformative Insights from Our Greatest Minds. As the book’s title suggests this is the second installment in a ten volume series collecting the best insights and observations from hundreds of episodes of the FranklinCovey on Leadership with Scott Miller podcast. This is a great, easy to read book filled with practical insights on everything from productivity to planning systems. In our chat Scott and I discuss a number of these insights including thoughts from Michael Hyatt, Guy Kawasaki, Marie Forleo, Tiffany Aliche, and more. I always love talking with fellow podcasters and Scott was no exception. This free-flowing conversation is packed with the types of observations and tips that Scott is so qualified to illuminate and illustrate for us. Scott Miller, a highly sought-after speaker, author, and podcast host, is currently FranklinCovey’s senior advisor on thought leadership, leading the strategy, development, and publication of the firm’s bestselling books on leadership. Prior to this role, Scott was a 25-year FranklinCovey associate, serving as the Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President. He hosts FranklinCovey’s On Leadership with Scott Miller, the world’s largest and fastest-growing weekly leadership podcast. Connect with Scott:WebsiteTwitterFacebookInstagramConnect with Erik:Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Instagram ________________________________________ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week I was both excited and intrigued to welcome Gaia Bernstein to the show for an eye opening talk about the addictive nature of technology. Gaia is a Law Professor, Co-Director of the Institute for Privacy Protection and Co-Director of the Gibbons Institute for Law Science and Technology at the Seton Hall University School of Law. She writes, teaches and lectures in the intersection of law, technology, health and privacy. In her new book, Unwired: Gaining Control Over Addictive Technologies she shatters the illusion that we can control how much time we spend on our screens by resorting to self-help measures. Unwired shifts the responsibility for a solution from users to the technology industry, which designs its products to addicts. The book draws out the legal action that can pressure the technology industry to re-design its products to reduce technology overuse.Gaia has academic degrees in both law and psychology. Her research combines findings from psychology, sociology, science and technology studies with law and policy. Gaia’s research has been featured extensively by the media including the New York Times, Forbes, ABC News and Psychology Today.Connect with Gaia: Website Book Linkedin Connect with Erik: Facebook  LinkedIn  Twitter  Instagram  ________________________________________ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week I was excited to welcome Phil Simon back to the show to discuss his new book, The Nine: The Tectonic Forces Reshaping the Workplace. Phil is the world's leading independent expert on workplace collaboration and technology. He is the award-winning author of 14 books, and helps organizations communicate, collaborate, and use technology better. Harvard Business Review, the MIT Sloan Management Review, Wired, NBC, CNBC, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, and The New York Times have featured his contributions. He also hosts the podcast Conversations About Collaboration.In our chat Phil and I discuss the 9 forces that are redefining the workplace. These forces include generative AI, automation, dispersed workforces, blockchain, immersive technologies, employee empowerment, and the return of systemic inflation. The workplace is undergoing a massive, irrevocable shift. The only question for business leaders is, What should you do about it? Phil and I begin to unpack some of the first steps that he has been observing within corporations and workplaces. In addition, Phil also helps listeners understand how we can strive to keep our humanity, creativity, and ethical constraints while harnessing the power and time-saving productivity of various tools and trends that are evolving at an exponential rate.Phil’s Previous EpisodeErik’s Conversation with Christopher S. Penn About Chat GPTConnect with Phil: Website Linkedin Twitter Connect with Erik: Facebook  LinkedIn  Twitter  Instagram  ________________________________________ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.