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 episode features an invigorating discussion between Mike and Ben Elijah. Ben is the author of "The Productivity Habits" and blogs over at Ink and Ben. They talk about how they look at productivity in general. But they didn't stop there. They also spent time conversing about importance, mode-based work, and even John Cleese's famous talk on creativity. Relevant Links http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1907794832/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1907794832&linkCode=as2&tag=vardyme-20&linkId=TKGIYGDRQPA3JBPP (The Productivity Habits: A Simple Framework to Become More Productive | Ben Elijah) http://www.inkandben.com/#about (Ink and Ben | Ben Elijah) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804137382/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0804137382&linkCode=as2&tag=vardyme-20&linkId=A676FJ6TC7HDKBBA (Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less | Greg McKeown) https://gumroad.com/l/beyondproductivityworkshop (Beyond Productivity: A Virtual Workshop | Productivityist) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081298160X/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=081298160X&linkCode=as2&tag=vardyme-20&linkId=ZJY2AGCPTTSZFOSD (The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business | Charles Duhigg) https://productivityist.simplecast.fm/30 (Getting Things Done with David Allen | The Productivityist Podcast) https://productivityist.simplecast.fm/13 (The Contexts Conversation: Part One | The Productivityist Podcast) https://productivityist.simplecast.fm/14 (The Contexts Conversation: Part Two | The Productivityist Podcast) http://scottberkun.com/2012/cleese-on-creativity/ (John Cleese on Creativity | Scott Berkun) https://productivityist.simplecast.fm/40 (An Introduction To The NOW Year Formula | The Productivityist Podcast) http://simplicitybliss.com/blog/a-fresh-take-on-contexts (A Fresh Take on Contexts | SimplicityBliss) https://twitter.com/inkandben (Ben Elijah (@inkandben) | Twitter) Want to send Mike an app, book, or something similar to discuss on the show? Email Productivityist at [email protected] and we'll give it a look. Want to listen on Stitcher? http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=53149&refid=stpr (Click here.) Really like the show and want it to flourish even more? Support The Productivityist Podcast by becoming a patron! http://patreon.com/productivityist (Click here) to visit The Productivityist Podcast's Patreon page and see what perks await those who pitch in a buck or more.

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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.