Episodes

From planner systems to no-code platforms to 3D printing, creating your own productivity tools today using analog or digital products has become easier than ever. But, how do you approach this so that you make an effective personal productivity tool for yourself, so not just scurrying down the proverbial rabbit hole? That’s what we discuss in this week’s ProductivityCast! Creating your own productivity tools is possible, and we discuss the tools but also the strategy and methods to consider in a...

Emergencies abound. But, they don't always mean you have to lose personal productivity. With some contingency productivity planning, you can stay productive even when things break, when technology fails us, and when people snap! Also, this was recorded a while back and since then, we're glad to note that Francis has since upgraded successfully and happily to Windows 10. 🤓 (If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/082 for clickable links and the...

In this second part of our two-part series this week of ProductivityCast, we look at the ideas behind the book by one of our regular contributors, Francis Wade. Perfect Time-Based Productivity (2nd Ed.) is for the person who has already begun their productivity journey. It focuses mostly on task management and we talk about the ways we can gain greater insight into the way each person manages his/her tasks in order to find the best areas of improvement. (If you’re reading this in a podcast direc...

This week on ProductivityCast, we have a two-part series being released to discuss Francis Wade's second edition of his book, Perfect Time-Based Productivity! In this cast, Francis explains the development of personal productivity systems in early life and how time demands can better help you identify how to spend your time wisely. (If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/080 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this c...

Stress is natural. But, when that stress overwhelms us that can lead to not just reduced personal productivity. Detecting and managing burnout is a key capability for highly productivity individuals and that’s what we discuss on this week’s episode of ProductivityCast. (If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/079 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this cast.) Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thanks for listening! If you...

On this cast, we invited a special guest—our colleague and friend—Jim McCullen, to talk about his email-focused personal productivity system for Microsoft Outlook (and eponymous book), Control Your Day. (If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/078 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this cast.) Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thanks for listening! If you'd like to continue discussing Control Your Day With Jim McCullen f...

Our podcast co-host, Augusto Pinaud, has been coaching clients on productivity for many years, and devised a tool that he uses with them to help overcome managing the high-level goals in conjunction with lower-level projects and maintenance/administrative activities of daily and work life. In this week’s episode, Augusto goes into detail on what his tool, Impact Journal, is and how to use it in your personal productivity system. (If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit ht...

The ProductivityCast team decided to make a special appearance 😂 at Remote Work Productivity Conference 2020 and we recorded a live show...with a live audience. It was a lot of fun discussing remote work productivity and our reflections after our episode, The Age of Remote Work Productivity. (If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/076 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this cast.) Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thank...

This week, the ProductivityCast team discusses the tools and tricks for producing content productively. Content production is not just for marketers; it's a fundamental component of many of our job duties. So, producing content productively can really help us save time and garner a stronger reputation among our peers and employers. (If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/075 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this c...

We had the pleasure of interviewing the CEO of Radio.co and Podcast.co, James Mulvany, about Entrepreneurial Productivity for his 30 Interviews in 30 Days challenge. (If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/074 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this cast.) Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thanks for listening! If you'd like to continue discussing Entrepreneurial Productivity from this episode, please click here to leav...

On ProductivityCast, we talked about the Bullet Journal method, the paper-based personal productivity methodology developed by Ryder Carroll, and tailoring the Bullet Journal method in our own personal productivity systems (as well as managing it in digital environments). (If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/073 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this cast.) Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thanks for listening! If ...

Over the past decade, Nozbe has become known as one of the best task managers on the market inspired by the Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology. (We've done a GTD podcast series, and we've recently interviewed David Allen, creator of GTD.) They have now come out with a completely independent product called Nozbe Teams, and as you can imagine it’s focused on small organization productivity inspired by all the lessons learned from their work with Nozbe Personal. We sat down with Nozbe CEO Michae...

What do you do when you can’t create more time, but have more to do? That’s the topic we try to tackle on ProductivityCast. From enlisting virtual assistants to hiring productivity consultants to professional organizers to handyman services and everything in between, we discuss personal outsourcing to get more done. Note: Art Gelwicks was with us for this episode, but unfortunately a technical problem means that his audio is left out of this episode. (If you’re reading this in a podcast director...

Today on ProductivityCast, we are interviewing David Allen, who is most often quoted for saying, Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.David Allen, author of Getting Things Done David Allen is the author of best-selling book, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (the revised edition was published in 2015, among other works), and the eponymous GTD methodology, as well as the founder of David Allen Company. (If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please vi...

We originally recorded this episode in July 2019 and the discussion we had couldn’t be more salient today--remote work. Remote work, working from home, digital nomadic lifestyles and more were trending upward before the COVID-19 pandemic, and now we are grappling with the realities of the shifting world of work out of necessity. In this blissfully-unapparent-of-the-future dialog, the ProductivityCast team discusses the positives and negatives of being in the age of remote work productivity, then...

We get your listener messages and we love them! So, keep them coming! We try to respond to most of them via email response when we get them. For those that require more than an email, we have started to respond to them here in episodes together. And, this is the premiere edition of our Ask ProductivityCast episode series. Whenever we get a few questions that require some heavy lifting, we’ll put out an Ask ProductivityCast episode. So, keep those questions coming! (If you’re reading this in a po...

As we are living through a challenging period, and while some work may be limited, it’s still good to know proper skills like project planning in uncertain circumstances. In this week’s episode, the ProductivityCast team discusses the challenges we face when project planning in uncertain circumstances and ways to push through, along with tools to help. (Please visit https://productivitycast.net/067 for clickable links, downloadable audio-only version of this episode, show notes and text transcri...

We are in uncertain times, indeed. So, here are some strategies to consider when approaching working from home in the age of the novel coronavirus and COVID-19. We wish you all safety and health throughout this difficult period. (If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/066 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this cast.) Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thanks for listening! If you'd like to continue discussing managing d...

Episode 065 | Ergonomics and Your Productivity With James Olander, The Roost Laptop Stand For James, he found the right thing to work on by being very close to a problem that affected him personally and discovering an unsolved problem in that space. He had been working at a laptop for years, hunched over, until it put him out of commission. RSI (repetitive stress injury), carpal tunnel, constant neck and back pain. James started his career in aerospace engineering, worked on satellite and rocket...

Indecision can be one of the powerful productivity inhibitors. It can be a powerful force against projects and actions that can help move your professional and/or personal life forward. We wanted this episode to help you make great decisions and provide you with strategies and techniques to combat indecision. (If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/064 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this cast.) Enjoy! Give us fe...

A recent article in The New Yorker, "Was Email a Mistake?," triggered a conversation around the veracity of email in the Digital Age. The author, computer science professor Cal Newport, discussed this on a recent interview on NPR. This is our response to the question, was email a mistake? (If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/063 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this cast.) Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thanks f...

Most don't think about it, but aside from finding the best productivity planner for ourselves, the very paper planner (a/k/a agenda, diary, journal, scheduler, notebook) didn't even exist until roughly 90 years. What did humankind do for the prior millennia upon millennia?! It wasn't until Gustav Grossmann came around with his own 200-page manifesto and leatherbound planning notebook in the 1930s, that the modern organizer was born. Today, we who pay attention to our productive lives take it for...

If you haven’t heard about Kanban before (which many of our productivity enthusiasts had not, so you’re not alone!) started as a lean manufacturing process by Taiichi Ohno. It has since branched off into a process management and improvement method used by many in the productivity community (especially in the Lean, Six Sigma and Agile communities). In practical terms, with Personal Kanban, you create a visual process management system (Kanban means “billboard” in Japanese) for what you’re going t...

Are you always hearing excuses from others about why they didn't get something done? Or, are you coming to terms with making excuses yourself for commitments you are making and breaking? In this cast, we discuss the particulars of excuses (and making justifications, and perhaps appropriates "reasons") for not getting a task or project completed. (If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/060 for clickable links and the full show notes and transc...