sharppodcast

Episode 62 - This is a great episode! In our second look at todoist, we move up to Level 2. Our survey said most of you use paper to manage your tasks. Todoist Level '2' could really help YOU too!

Look at all this stuff we covered:

• We meet 'Emma' who has different stuff going on in her life - work stuff, hobby stuff, home stuff - and she manages it all with todo lists on paper and spreadsheets
• Projects - they're not just for big things like building hospitals
• Preparing Lucy's birthday celebration is a project
• Learning the guitar is a project
• Be clear on what the tasks are for your project
• Why you MUST get flames painted on the Volvo
• How todoist can help you manage projects
• Why you might consider the premium package
• A sentimental 'lockdown' reminiscence of going for a coffee
• Labels - grouping 'like' tasks together
• Batching - a great way to work
• Deciding which tasks to do when
• My labels:
• 5 min job
• 10 min job
• full focus
• low energy
• phone
• pc
• Using todoist's fabulous 'natural language' to set up multiple recurring tasks and put them in the right place at the right time:
• "Choose colour of #flames @pc on Saturday at 3 pm"
• "Check Facebook every weekday at 9 am #social @mobile"
• Karma - why it's vital, but all other task managers miss it out
• Gamification
• Neopolitan Ice Cream bar charts (this is mine)...
• Emma has now:
• Grouped all her different activities into projects
• Set up recurring tasks
• Created labels so she could batch tasks together
• Learned guitar
• Gained a sense of accomplishment and achievement

Here are the links and the resource we used:



• Todoist's video on labels
• Foundations video - including viewing tasks in context
• An overview of what you can do with Premium
• A good article on batching. Note the name of the provider - I read it as "Metal Learners!"

Episode 61 - Do you keep your tasks on a post-it note? Or are you happy using technology? We look at how "todoist" can help a range of people across a variety of situations. (Warning - episode features multiple references to Findus Crispy Pancakes.)

Look at all this stuff we covered:



• Amir's story - the brains behind todoist
• How a 'rootless' upbringing seems to have resulted in a great business ethos
• If you're using pen and paper what could an app like todoist do for you?
• Freeing up your mental space
• Keeping track of what you've got on
• Introducing the 3 levels we're going to explore:
• Wanda - who doesn't like technology and has simple needs
• Emma - with a more sophisticated life, Emma has a need for something more structured to help her manage lots of variety
• Theresa - a full project and team manager who has complex needs
• Why I converted to todoist
• Level 1 (Wanda)
• Creating a shopping list
• Using Alexa - (if you have one, you might wanna turn it off while you're listening)
• Sharing lists with people (unless you've bought fungal foot powder)
• Setting up folders for her other stuff
• Setting up tasks for future activity - cutting the grass
• Recurring tasks - recycling and cuddles
• Using todoist's amazing 'Natural Language' to easily set tasks up
• The tasks we created looked like this:
• "Alexa - add Findus Crispy Pancakes to my shopping list"
• "Cut the grass on Saturday"
• "Take the recycling bins out every other Thursday at 7pm"
• "Cuddle my partner every other Wednesday" (perhaps don't do this)
• How todoist uses this natural language to put everything exactly where you need it, ready for action
• Using your inbox as your master list (this is level 1 don't forget)
• How all this can give Wanda (and you) clarity of mind
• Letting you try this all out before we move onto Level 2 in the next episode where we'll meet Emma

Here are the links to what you need, and where we did our research for the episode:



• Todoist features
• Integrating with Alexa
• Integrating with Google Assist
• Using Siri
• The difference between the inbox and a project (folder)
• Sharing folders like your shopping list (and other projects)
• Amir's interview on Founder Chats at Baremetrics

Episode STP060 - With the whole coronavirus and lock-down thing going on, we wondered how we can help. It turns out there are three areas we know about that could be useful to you. How we do the 'home' thing, deal with change, and learn new things.

Look at all this stuff we covered:

• We chatted at the table and talked about
• Working from home - this is what can help:
• Set aside a dedicated area
• Plan your day with a structure
• Agree boundaries with the family
• Set a definite end time to the day
• Wear something different
• Doing 'Not-Work' from home:
• Set a schedule anyway - avoid the Netflix trap!
• Take baby steps
• Exercise
• Have a look at some online courses
• Be kind to others and yourself
• Change
• The change curve from Elizabeth Kübler-Ross
• The difference between a change and the emotion it brings
• 5 stages of change
• Denial and shock
• Anger
• Bargaining
• Depression
• Acceptance and integration
• What all this has to do with toilet paper
• Some practical steps you can take
• Identify the positives
• Think about change that you've experienced before
• Talk it out with someone
• Consider the worst that could happen
• Focus on what you CAN control
• Protect your well-being
• Doing some self-development or online courses
• Not all online courses are the same
• We looked at 5 different providers
• YouTube (you don't need a link do you?)
• The Open University
• The Great Courses (Plus)
• LinkedIn Learning
• Udemy
• You can also consider TedEd, Coursera, Alison, the Forum and more. Links to those and others can be found in this article from Lifehack

Further reading and information are available from the following places:

• The University of Exeter
• TedX - The Kate Braestrup talk
• Harvard Business Review
• Reachout Australia

Episode STP059 - We meet one of my favourite creative people - Laurie Jeffery. He describes himself as a photographer, a filmmaker and a story teller.

Look at all this stuff we covered:



• Treating your commitment to people as important
• Why quality matters more than Stephen Spielberg
• How it's hard to find people who care
• Using great tools
• Working with good people
• Sharpening your tools
• How great calendar skills makes him a great photographer
• Preparing for the moment of scrutiny
• Asking for the 'impossible' and getting it
• Keeping your cool
• Why the guy who cleans the floor deserves time
• Not having a TV
• Why Sky called him weird, and he liked it
• Why social media is better than telly (a 'pre' corona-virus view!)

Find out more and see Laurie's work at:

• @laurieshots on Twitter
• @laurie.jeffery on Instagram
• Laurie's Website (Some adult content - discretion advised)

We also gave a shout out to amazing people who support, inspire or in some way have a part in keeping our podcast going. Here are their Twitter names and links to their work?

• Dan Benjamin - @DanBenjamin
• BritPodScene - @Britpodscene (no longer working)
• Comedy Geek Sketch Podcast - @comedy_geek1 or Comedy Geek Sketch Podcast 
• I Shake My Head Podcast - @i_shakemyhead or the I Shake My Head Podcast

Episode 58 - If you have to remember things, plan things or share things - mind maps can help with that and loads more. We'll tell you how.

Look at all this stuff we covered:

• What mind maps are
• Where they came from
• How they work
• What YOU can use them for
• Tony Buzan invented mind maps - he was a character
• 1970's BBC tv
• That idiot Steve In The Field makes another appearance

Our research came from here - find out more:



• Use Your Head from BBC TV in 1974
• How to Mind Map with Tony Buzan
• Hazel Wagner Ted - Mind Mapping
• Tony's Ted Talk (featuring elastic band boy)
• ImindQ - 10 real life uses of mind maps
• Visual Aids - the research document
• Science & Technology - Humans process visual data better

Finally - the links to the cool people we mentioned at the start - check them out:

• Lisa LinkedIn
• Voiceover people
• Mel's British voice
• Carrie's Voice
• Debby Barnes
• Guy Slocombe
• Audio production and help
• Chris Curran - Podcast Engineering School
• Mike Delgaudio - Booth Junkies
• Podcasters world - facebook group
• Podcast Editors - facebook group
• Smashing podcasts
• Which Murderer
• Release the Clowns
• The One You Feed
• The Casual Birder
• Yes But Why podcast

Episode 57 - Because sometimes books are more than books. Don't let the battle of the printed word and the audiobook get you down - you decide. Here are four books we loved reading this year; now it's your turn to enjoy them.

Look at all this stuff we covered:

• Being in the woods near THAT picnic table in the rotten weather
• 4 Seconds by Peter Bregman
• Change your habits and your life
• Dog-earing pages (yep!)
• The Getting Things Done Workbook by David Allen and Brandon Hall
• It's like David coming to your house and setting it all up with you
• The World Is F***ed by Mark Manson
• The thinking brain and the feeling brain (very cool)
• Philosophy, Narcissism, Religion - all the fun subjects
• But I read it twice in a week
• Talking To Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell
• Why people are rubbish at working out if you're lying
• How trained professionals get it horrifically wrong
• Audio - do you know how hard these people work to make sure you DON'T notice their work?

Here are the links to the books, research and articles which inspired we used to produce this episode:

• 4 Seconds
• Seth Godin - This is Marketing
• Entrepreneurs Library with Peter Bregman
• The GTD workbook
• GTD Brasil
• Our episode on GTD for Teens
• Thinking Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman 
• My favourite of the 4 books - Everything Is F*cked
• The audio book version
• Mark Manson's video about the book
• Talking to Strangers
• The audio book version
• Revisionist History - The Queen of Cuba
• Malcolm's explanation at Penguin
• The Sandra Bland footage
• Audio in film
• Adam Buxton's podcast