You can learn a lot about somebody just by learning about how they get things done. Are they the sort of person who might have a perfectly color-coded email inbox, a flawlessly organized to-do list, and what’s that, they just sent you a calendar invite for happy hour next week? Or are they more likely to have a giant pile of sticky notes they never look at, a computer desktop with so many files you can’t even see the wallpaper, and today’s main tasks written on their arm? Neither is wrong, but they’re very different.

On this episode of The Vergecast, the second in our three-part miniseries about work and productivity and how to get more done in a digital world, we decide to get to know our colleagues in a new way: by asking them to share their own productivity systems. We didn’t give them much specific instruction or homework, other than to come ready to answer a question: how do you get stuff done? Eight Verge staffers showed up, with eight very different ideas about what being productive means and how best to pull it off. Along the way, we found some ideas to steal, a few new apps and tools to try, and a lot of new thoughts about our co-workers.

If you want to know more about the things we discuss in this episode, here are a few links to get you started:

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The Verge's David Pierce, Alex Cranz, Allison Johnson, and Richard Lawler discuss the Google Pixel 9 review and its controversial reimagine AI feature, a Chick-fil-A streaming service, Sonos app updates, and more.

Further reading:

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Today on the flagship podcast of hydrogen futures: 

The Verge’s William Poor, Andrew Marino, and Alex Parkin head to California to figure out why hydrogen fuel cell technology, once a super-promising successor to gasoline, lost out to battery electric cars. They also put the embattled tech to the test with a road trip across California’s “hydrogen highway.”

Further reading: 

• Check out the interactive map of our trip here, and the video version of the story here.

• Read Andrew Hawkins’ story about the future of hydrogen fuel cell tech here.

• Read Justine Calma’s coverage of federal green hydrogen programs here.

• Go deep into California zero emission transportation policy here.

Credits:

Fact Check by Jasmine Arielle Ting

Thanks to:

Bill Elrick, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership

Michael McCurdy, California State Library

Archival footage courtesy of Global ImageWorks, LLC

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Laura Mae Martin is a big believer in the settings menu. Martin is Google’s Executive Productivity Advisor, and spends much of her time working with other Googlers on improving their productivity and communication systems — and one of the things she often recommends is taking a few minutes to poke through the options. “With your phone, with your email, your Slack, all these things, the features are there but we don’t take the time to dive into them,” she says. She even thinks you should maybe have to look at settings before you can use the app. “Like, you can’t get into the app unless you spend 10 minutes figuring out what it can do.”

On this episode of The Vergecast, the first in our three-part miniseries about all things productivity and work, we talk to Martin about how she sees things changing. Four years after the pandemic forced us all to work from home, are we finally figuring out remote and hybrid work? Are managers realizing that butts-in-seats isn’t, and maybe was never, a good metric for productivity? And is the era of the hard-charging hustle bro finally giving way to a healthier, more holistic way of thinking about being productive? Martin sees all these things from so many perspectives, and has lots of thoughts on everything from communication styles to energy flows.

We also talk about the rise in digital productivity tools like Notion and Slack, and why email is still so important — and still so terrible. One of Martin’s jobs at Google is to consult with the teams building Workspace apps like Docs and Gmail, and she has lots of thoughts on how those product works and how they could be better. We also talk about whether AI stands to change the way we get things done, and whether it’ll help us do more or just give us more to do.

Along the way, Martin offers us lots of practical tips on how to manage our digital lives a little better. Charging your phone outside the bedroom, no-tech Tuesdays, and a couple of prettier email labels might actually go a long way. And if you have too many notes in too many places, it’s time to get a Main List going.

If you want to know more on everything we talk about in this episode, here are a few links to get you started:

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Alex Cranz discuss AI tools announced at this weeks Pixel 9 event, Nilay's TV competition, tech regulatory news, and more.

Further reading:

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Today on the flagship podcast of the correct height-to-width ratio of a foldable phone: 

The Verge’s David Pierce, Allison Johnson, Victoria Song, and Chris Welch discuss all the new gadget announcements from Google’s Pixel event — including the Pixel 9, the Pixel Watch 3, the Pixel buds, and more.

Further reading:

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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The Verge's Nilay Patel, Alex Cranz, Alex Heath, and Lauren Feiner discuss a federal judge ruling that Google violated US antitrust law, X suing a group of major advertisers over an “illegal boycott”, and the rest of this week's wild tech news.

Further reading:

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Today on the flagship podcast of what the future of Kindle turns out to be: 

We’re once again trying out a couple of our favorite new show formats. 

In Version History, we talk through the whole story of Quibi, from its early days as NewTV to its extremely ill-timed launch to its ultimate demise. 

Next, we try out our as-yet-untitled debate show. The Verge’s Kevin Nguyen and Alex Cranz take on a surprisingly contentious topic: is the future of books print or digital? 

Later, producer Andru Marino answers a question from The Vergecast Hotline about a very unusual shopping situation for MP3 players. 

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The Verge's Nilay Patel, Allison Johnson, and Victoria Song discuss Apple iOS 18.1 beta. upcoming Pixel 9 rumors, Olympics coverage, AI deepfake regulation, and more.

Further reading:

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Today on the flagship podcast of dedicated streaming hardware: 

We try out a couple of show formats we’ve been planning for a while. 

In Version History, we tell the story of the Roku Netflix Player, debate its legacy, and try to decide whether this thing belongs in the Version History Hall of Fame. 

After that, it’s time for debates. Nilay Patel and David Pierce yell at each other about who should own the screens in your car. Are CarPlay and Android Auto the answer, the solution to universally crappy automaker software?

Later, David answers a question from The Vergecast Hotline about political spam texts.

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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