This episode is brought to you by Your Clockwise Week—a personalized weekly structure built around your actual life, not an ideal one. If your week feels full but not fitting, you can learn more at mikevardy.com/yourclockwiseweek.

This week on the program I’m joined by a guest I’ve been looking to chat with for a long time. Francesco D’Alessio runs Keep Productive, a YouTube show dedicated to helping people find the most suitable productivity software for their work and life needs. From helping decision making to curbing switching, Keep Productive is passionate about helping you make long-term decisions about your software.

I remember the days of keeping up with all the latest and greatest productivity news and app updates. There came a time when I decided that wasn’t going to be in my long-term plans, so I moved away from that kind of content (for the most part). Francesco, however, is another story. He loves doing exactly that: sharing all the productivity news and app-related content as possible, as evidenced by his extremely popular YouTube channel. During our discussion we get into why he enjoys producing content around apps and productivity news, how he maps out his content plan, and so much more.

Talking Points

Francesco shares his “productivity origin” story

This is what Francesco looks for in an app that he showcases on his YouTube channel

What does Francesco define as productivity news? How does he decide what to share?

These are the tools that Francesco actually uses

We talk about the way forward with transitioning between apps that avoid friction and promote flow

This is what Francesco has used in the past and he shares why he moved away from them

What about paper?

We discuss Francesco’s content workflow

How does Francesco deal with content that can become dated?

Francesco shares THE productivity app that you should keep your eye on

Quote

“Tools are going to change you marginally… but it’s really the approach and the methodology that matter.”

Helpful Links

Keep Productive on YouTube

Notion Made Simple

Notion Office Hours with Mike Vardy

Thomas Frank’s Notion Video

Matt Ragland on YouTube

Beyond The To Do List #290 – Distractions: Nir Eyal on Becoming Indestractable

The Productivityist Podcast #266: Becoming Indistractable with Nir Eyal

Francesco on Twitter

The Productivityist Podcast Pick of The Week: The Freenoter

It’s always gratifying to talk with someone as enthusiastic about productivity as me, and it’s not very often that I get to “geek out” about apps since I’ve largely moved away from creating that kind of content. That’s why I really enjoyed this conversation with Francesco. He knows his stuff and he’s a rising star in the productivity space. I can’t wait to see how the rest of his journey unfolds.

Want to discover some of the books mentioned on the podcast? Check out Scribd, my reading app of choice.

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