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.

In the latest episode, I sit down with Rob Shallenberger—CEO of Becoming Your Best Global Leadership and one of the world’s foremost authorities on productivity and time management. Rob’s background is as dynamic as it is inspiring: from flying F-16s and serving as an Advance Agent for Air Force One to training Fortune 500 companies and governments alike.

We focus on the updated second edition of his bestselling book Do What Matters Most, diving deep into the transformative power of pre-week planning, the productivity quotient, and why it’s crucial to schedule your priorities rather than just prioritize your schedule. Rob’s mission is clear—help people lead lives by design, not by default.

Six Discussion Points

• How task saturation leads to misprioritization—and how to combat it
• Rob’s four-step pre-week planning system and how it creates peace and balance
• The productivity quotient: why aiming for 70–80% is the sweet spot
• Real-life stories that show how planning changes lives—including generational impact
• How Rob's military background shaped his approach to time and leadership
• The role of AI in planning—why it’s a tool, not a replacement for human intuition

Three Connection Points

• Do What Matters Most – Second Edition (Amazon)
• Rob’s Planner Tools and Resources
• Becoming Your Best Website

This conversation with Rob left me both inspired and affirmed in my belief that quality productivity stems from intentional design. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed or stuck in reactive mode, Rob’s framework provides both structure and flexibility. I encourage you to test out his pre-week planning approach—just four weeks can make a meaningful difference.

If this episode resonated, I’m exploring ideas like these more deeply in my upcoming book, Productiveness. You can follow along as it takes shape at mikevardy.com/productiveness.