Do you ever get overwhelmed? Ever feel like you’ve lost control of your day and there’s absolutely nothing that you can do about it? Do you get frustrated with having to respond to things other people declare are urgent and find yourself with no time left for the things that are important to you?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then this episode is for you. Brooks and Mike talk about what overwhelm is as well as what contributes to it, and share a simple 4-step strategy to help you escape overwhelm once and for all. They share 5 quick tips for disconnecting from the moment and getting some space and control when everything goes wrong, and give you 5 tactical tips to help you systematically create space and escape overwhelm once and for all.

Thanks to Stamps.com for supporting The Productivity Show.

Cheat Sheet

How this topic came about from a Twitter question 1:49

What overwhelm feels like and why it's often self-imposed 6:50

How today's society creates a culture of emergency-scan modality 11:57

Resetting the expectations surrounding work/life balance 18:47

4 Steps to escape overwhelm 19:58

Why you need to learn how to say "No" 22:52

How email is a major contributing factor to overwhelm 30:25

Why rituals help you keep overwhelm at bay 35:26

Action item: identify one thing that you want to turn into a ritual or routine 39:11

What should you do when everything is going wrong right now 40:37

How meditation or taking a walk outside can help you feel like you are more in control of your life 44:52

Ways that famous authors and business owners deal with overwhelm 48:40

5 Things you can do to make sure you will systematically fight against overwhelm 51:43

Why you should reflect on your experience after you make it through an overwhelming situation 58:06

Links

The tweet that sparked this episode

Why Pursuing the Work-Life Balance Myth is Hurting Your Productivity (TPS139)

My Morning Routine: How Successful People Start Every Day Inspired

Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do

Calm

Headspace

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

3 Simple Steps To Delegating Work The Right Way So You Don’t Have to Worry About It (TPS182)

Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives

How Journaling Can Make You 25% Happier (TPS154)

Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World

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It can be difficult balancing close relationships with the important people in your life and your desire to get things done as efficiently as possible. What do you do when you have friends or family members who don’t share the same approach to getting things done? How can you win them over and convince them to implement new and better ways of doing things?

In this episode, Brooks and Mike talk about how you can walk the fine line of productivity evangelist with the people who are close to you without being pushy or damaging important relationships. They share 3 strategies for working productively with a spouse or significant other, tips for communicating and inspiring other family members and friends when you need to tread carefully in close relationships, and share several personal examples of how they’ve convinced the people close to them to prioritize productivity.

Thanks to Slack for supporting The Productivity Show. Slack: Where work happens. Go to https://slack.com to learn more.

Cheat Sheet

Why you have to be careful when trying to convince family members to use new productivity techniques 1:57

4 strategies for maximizing your chances of success when you are advocating for productivity with your spouse or significant other 7:00

Questions to ask your spouse during a family meeting 10:50

Why you can't force your preferences on your significant other 16:37

Why clearly articulating the problem you are trying to solve helps you get on the same page 22:40

How patience can really help produce change in productivity within a household 28:42

Productivity in other family relationships, like Mom and Dad 39:22

Productivity tips you can use with your kids 43:07

Links

The ONLY Way You Can Inspire Change in Others & Make Them More Productive (TPS204)

Family scoreboard 

Thinking Time: the Counterintuitive Approach to Growth (TPS162)

The 3 Things You Need to Maximize Your Productivity (TPS121)

The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family: A Leadership Fable​ About Restoring Sanity To The Most Important Organization In Your Life

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast, PocketCast or your favorite podcast player. It’s easy, you’ll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show gain exposure. You can also leave a review! Here's how.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Pocket Casts or your favorite podcast player. It’s easy, you’ll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show. You can also leave a review!

Do you ever get frustrated because your team or family members “just don’t get it” and insist on doing things in a way that’s completely unproductive? If so, you’re not alone. We all struggle with people who are close to us that haven’t yet seen the light when it comes to the way they choose to get things done. If you’ve ever found yourself in this situation, you probably feel like this is a battle that you just can’t seem to win. So in this episode, we’re going to share our best strategies for winning over the people closest to you to a productive mindset so you can fix the broken systems in your life. We share 6 ways that you can influence others to change, and talk about what you can do in specific situations to improve efficiency with the people you live and work with while protecting your relationships.

Thanks to Slack for supporting The Productivity Show. Slack: Where work happens. Go to https://slack.com to learn more.

Cheat Sheet

Quick wins for approaching a coworker to help them with email management 2:02

Why pain is a driver for change 11:09

How to lead by example when it comes to productivity 15:18

Why you should show people you are really interested in them when you want to influence them 26:42

How to share what is working for you 35:31

Why you want to teach and educate when the pain is high 43:31

How to use third-person framing to start a teachable moment 51:46

How to frame delicate requests so that they are heeded 55:09

How to get your spouse on-board with productivity mindset 59:19

Links

The Simple Guide To Managing Your Email More Effectively

Next-Level Email Processing: How to Handle Any Email in Your Inbox (TPS166)

Change Your Mind, Change Your Life: How a Growth Mindset Leads You to Your Ideal Future (TPS171)

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

TextExpander

How To Win Friends and Influence People

The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family: A Leadership Fable​ About Restoring Sanity To The Most Important Organization In Your Life

10 Practical Tips for Identifying and Implementing Core Values With Your Family (TPS133)

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Ever wonder why so many New Year’s Resolutions don’t stick? It’s because most people rely solely on willpower to achieve their goals. Don’t be like so many who start things but can’t finish them. Tune in to understand why willpower alone isn’t going to allow you to achieve your goals, the 2 different approaches you can use to maintain motivation, and 5 practical tips for increasing your motivation. In this episode, we also walk through 2 different scenarios and show how managing motivation can help achieve any goal.

Thanks to Slack for supporting The Productivity Show. Slack: Where work happens. Go to slack.com to learn more.

Cheat Sheet

What makes some people give up on their goals and what allows other people to stick with things 2:29

What willpower really is and why you can't count on it to obtain a goal 3:33

How motivation can help you overcome inertia and reach your goals 11:30

Why Brooks decided to do intermittent fasting and how he used motivation to keep it up 16:47

How Mike used motivation to get through ups and downs to finish his first half-marathon 24:52

What to do when your routine or habit falls off and you need to get back on track 33:09

How deliberate practice gives you complete control over your outcome 41:10

5 Practical tips for increasing your motivation 44:42

Write down your why 44:50

Create a ritual 49:12

Don't break the chain 56:10

Get accountable 59:31

Get a coach, whether formal or informal 1:03:41

Links

Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise

The Productivity Killer We Face 35,000 Times Each Day (TPS147)

"The Chocolate-and-Radish Experiment That Birthed the Modern Conception of Willpower" - The Atlantic

The War of Art

Morning Ritual Starter Kit

DontBreakTheChain.com

Zero Fasting Tracker app

Productive habit tracking app

6 Ways a Mastermind Can Accelerate Your Success w/ Nate Lowrie (TPS178)

Inside the AE Mastermind: What Really Successful People Do Differently to Fix Their Blind Spots (TPS192)

Clarity.fm

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People seem to self-identify into 2 categories: those that thrive working from home, and those that say they could never do it. But working from home is like any other productivity challenge - if you set yourself up for success, become aware of some best practices, and apply some creativity and flexibility, anyone can do it and do it productively. In this episode, we talk about some of our favorite home office gear, talk about the 4 challenges present with trying to work from home, and share 7 keys to setting up your home office environment for maximum productivity.

Cheat Sheet

How your workspace impacts how productive you are 2:19

Some of our favorite home office gear 10:19

Why you might want to use two monitors 17:18

Why Mike uses a "clicky" keyboard to motivate him to write 26:24

The challenges that come with working from home and how to overcome them 29:31

How to set ground rules when you decide to work from home 37:14

How to define your storage system so you have a place for everything 47:09

How the right ergonomics will make you more productive 55:18

Why it's important to take the time to have social interaction if you're working from home 1:00:43

Tips for dealing with paper in your home office 1:05:10

Additional resources for getting started or going to the next level with your home office 1:11:52

Links

"Are poorly designed offices eroding productivity?" Gensler Research

Brooks’ desk when he started his online business

Mike's current desk setup

Fully.com standing desks

Veridesk

NeuYear AE Calendar

"Boosting Productivity At Work May Be Simple: Stand Up" Texas A&M University

10+ iPhone Productivity Strategies from Apple Tech Jedi David Sparks (TPS199)

"The Virtues of a Second Screen" New York Times

@JakeShell - DIY Standing Desk

TPS7: Going Paperless w/ Brooks Duncan

The One Habit That Stops Procrastination In Its Tracks: Clearing To Neutral

Organizing from the Inside Out: The Foolproof System For Organizing Your Home, Your Office and Your Life

New Order: A Decluttering Handbook for Creative Folks (and Everyone Else)

NAPO.net

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Ever wonder why some people seem to get so much more done than others? We all have the same 24 hours in a day, so what makes some people super-productive while others just can't seem to get things done? In this episode, we dive into the strategy of timeblocking and how high-achievers use it to focus their effort to become super-productive.

Mike is joined by Curtis McHale, who recently produced a video training course for the Dojo to help people implement timeblocking for themselves and take massive action on their goals. Curtis is a Dojo member and business owner who has been running a successful web software consulting business for 6 years and helping others do the same for the last 2. In this episode, Curtis and Mike talk about timeblocking and why it’s so effective, give tips to help you implement it for yourself (even if you’re completely new to the idea), strategies for keeping it going and making the habit stick, and even a few tips for people in a corporate environment with little to no control over their work schedule.

Thanks to Slack for supporting The Productivity Show. Slack: Where work happens. Go to slack.com to learn more.

Cheat Sheet

Why Curtis is a huge proponent of timeblocking 2:05

Making time vs finding time (and why they're both wrong) 3:34

Four steps to designing your ideal week 8:18

Manager your work hour as a freelancer or if you have a boss 13:36

How to talk to your boss about your core values in order to succeed in your job 21:14

How to track your time effectively 27:52

Reviewing your timeblocks and making adjustments 32:57

How to make your timeblocking and time tracking into habits that stick 41:53

Why you should have a written plan for your week 46:55

Why you should double your time estimates when you're guessing how long a task will take 51:19

Links

Increasing Your Productivity By Using Analog Tools w/ Curtis McHale (TPS177)

6 Tips for Running More Effective Meetings (TPS195)

Never Enough Time? Schedule Your Priorities by Color Coding Your Calendars

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine

So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

Unique Ability® 2.0: Discovery - Define Your Best Self

How Journaling Can Make You 25% Happier (TPS154)

RescueTime

Cushion

Toggl

Timing

Ulysses

The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months

Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It…and Why the Rest Don’t

The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy

When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

A Professional Scrum Master’s Best Advice for a Productive Team w/ Lucas Smith (TPS189)

Deep Habits: The Importance of Planning Every Minute of Your Work Day (Cal Newport blog post)

Connect with Curtis McHale

CurtisMcHale.ca

@CurtisMcHale

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast, PocketCast or your favorite podcast player. It’s easy, you’ll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show gain exposure. You can also leave a review! Here's how.

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You’re listening to the 200th episode of the Productivity Show which is a major milestone for us. Three years and almost 5mm downloads later we’re still going strong and helping people like you achieve your goals in record times with our actionable content. To celebrate this special occasion we will reveal something at Asian Efficiency that we have never done before - an inside look at our planning process at the company. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, team leader or someone who wants to learn how to plan their goals in a different way, you’ll learn a lot from this today’s episode where we share how we plan our goals for the year and how we try to achieve them. We talk about which mistakes we’ve made along the way, share how we’ve sometimes failed at hitting our targets, and what we’ve learned that helps us execute better the more we stick with the process.

Thanks to Slack for supporting The Productivity Show. Slack: Where work happens. Go to slack.com to learn more.

Cheat Sheet

How Asian Efficiency's planning and goal-setting systems have changed over the years 3:03

How AE grew from a 2-person side project to a larger business with a team of people 11:44

The concept of "disagree and commit" and why it’s important 15:49

Why nothing beats doing planning sessions in person 21:35

Why you should start with the end in mind when it comes to planning 24:02

How the "critical number" keeps you on track 33:09

Using an example of creating an online course to talk about goal setting and the critical number 41:31

Using scrum and story points in the planning process 51:05

Understanding where you are now with leading indicators 53:10

How to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be 58:26

Why planning is 50% of the work 1:03:42

How "thinking time" can help you accomplish your goals 1:07:21

Lessons that we've learned from our own quarterly planning process 1:13:57

Links

Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

TPS7: Going Paperless w/ Brooks Duncan

Our 3 Biggest Challenges of Implementing Scrum & How We Overcame Them (TPS191)

A Professional Scrum Master’s Best Advice for a Productive Team w/ Lucas Smith (TPS189)

How to Take Massive Action on Your Goals by Implementing the 12 Week Year Effectively (TPS138)

The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

Tomatobot for Slack

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast, PocketCast or your favorite podcast player. It’s easy, you’ll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show gain exposure. You can also leave a review! Here's how.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Pocket Casts or your favorite podcast player. It’s easy, you’ll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show. You can also leave a review!

It’s hard to think of something that has made as big an impact in the way we live and work during the past decade than the smartphone. The iPhone in particular, introduced with its large touchscreen and lack of a physical keyboard, has had a profound impact on our productivity and changed the way we get work done. Its capability and portability have allowed people to work when and where they like. So for this episode on iPhone productivity, we can think of no one better-suited to show you how to get more out of your Apple-branded handheld computer than David Sparks, known affectionately to the internet as “Macsparky.”

David writes and produces the MacSparky Field Guides at MacSparky.com, and is the co-host of the popular Mac Power Users and Free Agents podcasts. David speaks and writes often about Apple technology, and when he’s not falling down fiddly geek rabbit holes, David is a business attorney in Orange County, California.

David recently released the iPhone Field Guide, a multimedia guide to making the most of your iPhone. With over 50 screencasts and more than 65,000 words, there’s something here for everyone whether you are new to the iPhone or been using it for years. David joins us to talk about some of his favorite iPhone productivity tips, some of his favorite productivity apps, and how he accelerated the writing process to finally publish the book.

Thanks to Slack for supporting The Productivity Show. Slack: Where work happens. Go to slack.com to learn more.

Cheat Sheet

Who David is and why he's been podcasting for 10 years 2:44

How smartphones have changed the way we live and work 4:00

What notifications David allows and which ones he blocks 8:11

All about the iPhone field guide that he wrote 15:10

What hyper-scheduling is and how David finished this field guide as a side project 20:29

Some of David's favorite iPhone productivity tips 30:32

Using dictation on iPhone 37:58

Different things you can do with Live Photos 47:05

3 different categories of task managers on the iPhone 52:42

Why you shouldn't use too many due dates for your tasks 58:28

David's perspective on habit trackers for iPhone 1:06:45

How to use the Grammarly keyboard and Voice Dream apps to be more productive 1:10:43

How to get the most out of the Find Friends app on the iPhone 1:17:10

Links

MacSparky iPhone Field Guide

Mac Power Users podcast

Free Agents podcast

"U.S. consumers now spend 5 hours per day on mobile devices" (TechCrunch)

3 Simple Steps to Help You Master Your Calendar (TPS198)

Fantastical

Drafts

Bookworm podcast

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

Anker Charger

Dragon Anywhere

Kolbe

Achieving Next-Level Productivity Through Conative Understanding w/ David Kolbe (TPS197)

Productive app

Habitica

Grammarly

Copied app

Voice Dream

Ulysses

Connect with David Sparks

MacSparky.com

@MacSparky

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast, PocketCast or your favorite podcast player. It’s easy, you’ll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show gain exposure. You can also leave a review! Here's how.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Pocket Casts or your favorite podcast player. It’s easy, you’ll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show. You can also leave a review!

Ever wonder why some people get so much done compared to others? Behind every super-productive person is an intentional approach to how they manage their calendar. In this episode, Brooks and Mike dive deep on how to set your day up for success by managing your calendar well. They talk about why you need a calendar in the first place, what types of things should go on your calendar, the 3 simple steps for setting up your calendars, recommended applications and services (including some PC and Android options), and 8 advanced calendar management tips to help you plan and execute your perfect week.

Thanks to HelloFresh for supporting The Productivity Show. Receive $30 off your first week of deliveries when you go to HelloFresh.com/TPS30 and use the offer code TPS30.

Cheat Sheet

Why do you need to use a calendar anyway? 2:04

How many calendars do you need? 4:58

Steps you can take to set up your calendars for optimal productivity 12:13

Why Mike uses a "goose calendar" 18:50

Things that don't need to be scheduled into a calendar 23:11

Why we recommend using a cloud-based calendar app 24:40

Our calendar app recommendations for Mac and PC 33:58

Why you should schedule everything that you intend to do 47:23

Small things you can implement today to be more productive with your calendar 57:00

Why you should plan at around 75% and over-estimate how long you think things will take 1:04:47

How to use a routine and take advantage of biological primetime 1:09:39

The advantages of using a scheduling application 1:15:20

Links

Why Pursuing the Work-Life Balance Myth is Hurting Your Productivity (TPS139)

6 Tips for Running More Effective Meetings (TPS195)

The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family

How To Use a Calendar and Task Manager Together

Never Enough Time? Schedule Your Priorities by Color Coding Your Calendars

The Artist's Way

AE NeuYear Calendar

BusyCal

Fantastical

Calendars 5 (by Readdle)

Google Calendar (iOS & Android)

Timepage

Vueminder

One Calendar

Chronos Calendar

Microsoft Outlook

Deep Habits: The Importance of Planning Every Minute of Your Work Day

The 3 Things You Need to Maximize Your Productivity (TPS121)

Moodnotes

ScheduleOnce

Calendly

Doodle.me

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast, PocketCast or your favorite podcast player. It’s easy, you’ll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show gain exposure. You can also leave a review! Here's how.

Do you ever feel like things are harder than they should be? Then today’s episode about conative productivity is for you. Mike is joined by David Kolbe, CEO of Kolbe Corp, who has lived and breathed the Kolbe Concept® since its inception. 

Today David joins us to talk about how making small adjustments based on conative insights can improve your productivity in all areas of your life. We dive deep on the Kolbe A assessment (which we’re BIG fans of here at AE), identify the cost that ignoring your conative M.O. has on your productivity, how you can use your M.O. to achieve greater productivity in your team or organization, and even how conative knowledge can improve your relationships.

Thanks to Weebly for supporting The Productivity Show. Go to weebly.com/tps to get 15% off your first purchase.

Editor's Note: We apologize that the audio quality for David isn't great. We did our best to clean it up. Fortunately, the information is still awesome.

Cheat Sheet

What Kolbe is and how the company started 3:00

Detailed explanation of the four action modes that are part of the Kolbe A Assessment 9:18

What the initiating and counteracting spectrum is all about 15:07

What the "followthrough" scale really means 24:27

An illustrative story about two family members with different ways of communicating 30:22

The conative strain that occurs when you work with people who have different strengths 39:39

Tips for overcoming the different types of conative stress 43:50

How to be an effective communicator and play to other people's strengths 50:01

Using Kolbe scores in personal relationships 55:21

Conative families 1:03:07

Why using "ergs" of energy intentionally for work and other ones for hobbies helps you be more productive 1:09:34

Links

Kolbe.com

Conative Connection: Uncovering the Link Between Who You Are and How You Perform

TakesTwo.com

@KathyKolbe

Connect with David Kolbe

@Kolbe_Corp

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast, PocketCast or your favorite podcast player. It’s easy, you’ll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show gain exposure. You can also leave a review! Here's how.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Pocket Casts or your favorite podcast player. It’s easy, you’ll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show. You can also leave a review!