The Paul Minors Podcast: Productivity, Business & Self-Improvement

Today I’m recording my 200th podcast episode. I started my podcast back in 2015 when I was still working full-time and I was trying to "make it" creating content and starting an internet business.

A lot has changed in that time but the podcast is one thing that’s remained pretty consistent. While the podcast numbers remain pretty steady, I enjoy showing up each week and sharing a thought or idea that may benefit a few people.

For this episode, I’d like to share a few of the lessons I’ve learned over the course of recording 200 episodes. Enjoy!

Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » paulminors.com/200

If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you could leave me a review.

Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/paulminors/message

Last week I emailed my newsletter list to learn more about the kinds of things people want to learn about in 2021. And one of the most popular topics that kept coming up is organisation.

With so many tools available to us know, if you’re not careful, keeping track of what you’re doing and all your ‘stuff’ can be challenging.

In the future I’m sure I’ll be doing a deep dive into this topic and specific tools. For now, I wanted to start by outlining some principles that you can apply to different areas of your life. So if you need to be more organised at work, home, digitally or using an analog system, these principles will work.

Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » paulminors.com/199

If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you could leave me a review.

Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/paulminors/message

Over the holidays I was listening to an episode of Simon Sinek’s podcast, A Bit of Optimism. And in an interview with Derren Brown, Derren gets you to think about happiness as a verb, something you do, rather than as a noun, something you have.

And as I was listening I had one of those moments where the penny dropped and I suddenly realised, of course, you can’t be happy all the time. And yet, as we go through life, we’re lead to believe that if you’re not happy, something must be wrong. We’re taught that happiness is something we need to find and hang on to for as long as possible.

But this is completely unrealistic… You can’t be happy all the time and to think otherwise is setting yourself up for failure.

Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/198

If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you could leave me a review.

Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/paulminors/message

Welcome to episode number 2 of Minor Updates. After recording my first update video a few months ago, I received really positive feedback and people seemed to really enjoy the more informal updates I shared.

I decided to close out the year with another update to share some of the things I've been working on and stuff I'm thinking about for 2021.

Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » paulminors.com/197

If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you could leave me a review.

Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/paulminors/message

Last year I published a summary of how I spent my time in 2019. It was a fascinating exercise and I received positive feedback on the analysis. Understanding how your time is being spent is one of the best things you can do to make better choices and plan more effectively in the future. So, I thought it would be worth repeating this exercise again this year.

NOTE: This analysis covers the period from January 1st to December 7th. So, although the year isn’t over, it gives me a pretty good idea of how I’ve spent my time this year.

Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/196

If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you could leave me a review.

Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/paulminors/message

The end of the year is fast approaching and when you look back and think about everything that’s happened this year, it’s crazy how fast the time has gone by!

As the end of the year approaches, I’m starting to think about how I want to finish off the year and prepare for 2021.

This is what I’ve got planned so far…

Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/195

If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you could leave me a review.

Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/paulminors/message

Even before 2020, I was already spending a lot of time on Zoom. Being a virtual consultant from New Zealand where 95% of my clients are overseas, it’s an app that gets a lot of usage from me.

Then 2020 happened and everyone started working remotely and using Zoom to host family get-togethers, gym classes or to catch up with friends while on lockdown.

According to Timing, I’ve spent 266 hours on Zoom this year. And I’m pretty sure this is under-reporting as it only counts active time (i.e. if I’m screen sharing, it’s Timing counts the active app).

Needless to say, I’ve learned a thing or two about hosting video calls on Zoom. And in this post, I’d like to share some of the tips I’ve picked up along the way so you can host better calls.

Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » paulminors.com/194

If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you could leave me a review.

Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/paulminors/message

As I’m sure you’re aware, journaling is one of those habits that a lot of ‘successful’ (whatever that means) people seem to have adopted.

And journalling is often presented through this lens of being a tool to help you be more successful. And I don’t have an issue with that. But for me, journaling isn’t something I do to try and be successful. For me, journaling is a tool to find peace of mind.

In this week’s blog post, I’d like to share a few journalling methods for you to experiment with. This is by no means an exhaustive list. Just a few things I’ve tried that I’d like to share.

Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » paulminors.com/193

If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you could leave me a review.

Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/paulminors/message

I had a great ‘ah-ha’ moment last week.

I was listening to an interview on the Tim Ferriss podcast between Tim and Mr Money Moustache (a.k.a Pete Adeney). For those that don’t know, Mr Money Moustache is a pioneer of the F.I.R.E movement (financial independence, retire early). On his blog he deconstructs the numbers behind creating a passive income and living within your means so you can retire early.

Anyway, during the interview, Pete said something that really made my ears prick up: "Happiness is not that much affected by adding positives to your life, it’s mostly accomplished by removing a negative."

Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/192

If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you could leave me a review.

Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/paulminors/message

We just got back from a family vacation and it was great taking a week off to relax and spend some quality time with the family. When we were at the beach, my wife, Hayley, snapped these cute photos of me pulling our little boy Jay up a rock and it got me thinking about an interesting metaphor for being a father..

Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/191

If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you could leave me a review.

Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/paulminors/message