A Productive Conversation
Hosted by productivity strategist Mike Vardy, A Productive Conversation offers insightful discussions on how to craft a life that aligns with your intentions. Each episode dives into the art of time devotion, productiveness, and refining your approach to daily living. Mike invites guests who are thinkers, doers, and creators to share their strategies for working smarter and living more intentionally. From practical tips to deep dives on mindset shifts, this podcast will help you reframe your relationship with time and find balance in a busy world.
Subscribe and join the conversation—because a productive life is more than just getting things done.
526
The Power of Focus with Shawn Blanc
In this podcast episode, Mike welcomes his friend Shawn Blanc, creator of The Focus Course. They have a deep discussion about intentionality, being attentive, the creative process, productivity, and – fittingly – focus.
55 min
527
Less Doing with Ari Meisel
In this episode, Mike is joined by Ari Meisel of Less Doing. They talk about what task management app Ari uses (the answer will surprise you), the art of optimization, automation, and outsourcing, and more tips and tricks you can use to help you make more great things happen by doing less.
36 min
528
The Habits of a Happy Brain with Loretta Breuning
In this episode of The Productivityist Podcast, Mike speaks with Dr. Loretta Breuning from the Inner Mammal Institute. They talk about how you can retrain your brain, including some tactics and tips so that you can start building a happier and healthier brain.
35 min
529
Building Better Teams with Jared Brown
This episode features a discussion between Mike and Jared Brown of Hubstaff. They talk about what you need to do in order to make bringing people on to work with you a more beneficial experience for everyone involved. Besides offering his own insights, he also discusses some ideas that come from other sources that you can use to build a better team.
32 min
530
Crafting Coaches with Tony Stubblebine
On this episode of the podcast, Mike talks with Tony Stubblebine of Coach.me. They talk about the power of coaching, what it takes to be a coach and several areas that people could really use coaching in so that they can take their work (and their lives) to the next level.
46 min
531
Getting Into Smartsheet with Brent Frei
Smartsheet has been a player in the task management and project management space for a long time, and on this episode of the podcast, Mike speaks with Brent Frei, the founder and VP of Marketing at Smartsheet. They talk about the present (and future) state of productivity, the subject of email, and why a smarter spreadsheet may very well be the best tool you can use to help you get things done.
24 min
532
The Productive Woman with Laura McClellan
This episode features a lengthy discussion between Mike and the host of The Productive Woman – and a productive woman in her own right – Laura McClellan. They chat about the possible differences that women and men approach productivity as well, productivity tactics to explore, and how she manages to deal with everything in her life.
40 min
533
Voice Lessons with Todd Henry
In this episode of the podcast, Mike talks with Todd Henry, author of the new book "Louder Than Words: Harness The Power of Your Authentic Voice". They discuss the importance of delivering your work and how your voice plays a huge role in that and also talk about their favourite football team, the Cincinnati Bengals.
28 min
534
Making Teamwork Work with Sebastian Klein
On this episode of the podcast, Mike Vardy chats with Sebastian Klein of Blinkist on what his small team uses as a productivity approach to keep things moving forward across the board.
21 min
535
Everything Evernote with Andrew Sinkov
Mike has an in-depth conversation with Andrew Sinkov, Vice President of Marketing and Brand at Evernote. They talk about where Evernote has been, where it's headed, and they even dive into some of the decisions the company has made (and the markets it has entered) over the years.
39 min
536
The Productive People of Podcast Movement 2015
In this episode of the podcast, producer John Poelstra and host Mike Vardy continue to talk to those attending Podcast Movement 2015 in Fort Worth, Texas. They speak with Srinivas Rao (The Unmistakable Creative), Erik Fisher (Beyond The To Do List), Vickie Velasquez (Productivity Power Up Podcast), Julia Tunstall (A Bar Above & Effortless Workflow), and more.
50 min
537
Podcast Movement 2015: Making Conferences Produ...
This bonus episode of the podcast features a discussion between myself and newly-minted producer John Poelstra as he asks me about what I do to make my time at conferences productive. Then I spend some time with Jaime Tardy of Eventual Millionaire and Russel Lolacher from The Upsell to talk about workflows and how they leverage their time in order to make the most of events like the one we were at...Podcast Movement 2015.
37 min
538
Internationally Intentional with Jared Brock
In this episode, Mike chats with author, filmmaker, and co-founder of Hope For The Sold, Jared Brock. Jared lives both a multi-faceted, intentional, and international life, which is why he is another ideal guest for the show.
25 min
539
The World Domination Summit Experience
In this episode, Mike and podcast editor John Poelstra chat with those who were gearing up for The World Domination Summit while at The Productivityist Enthusiasts' Meetup in Portland, Oregon. A bevy of guests pop by on this longer-than-usual episode, and they talk productivity and much more!
69 min
540
Defending Against Distractions with Tim Metz
In this episode Mike tackles distractions. He discusses what he believes is the difference between distractions, disruptions, and diversion (and how to defend yourself against them through awareness and measurable prevention). He also talks with Saent co-founder Tim Metz about the new device that he and his team are building that is designed to help you win the battle against distractions.
29 min
541
The Productive Pastor with Jonathan Pearson
In this episode, Mike spends some time this episode chatting with Jonathan Pearson, who aptly describes himself as "a millennial determined to leave the world in better shape than he found it". They talk about different productivity methods both of them use (and have used), the tools of the trade, his book The Productive Pastor Handbook, and much more.
24 min
542
How to be a Productive Speaker with Grant Baldwin
This episode features a discussion between Mike and Grant Baldwin. Grant is an accomplished speaker (so much so that he teaches others to become better speakers) and many of his weeks are more dynamic than what most people experience. Mike asks Grant how he organizes his week, how he deals with a hectic travel schedule, and how each speaking gig brings something different (read: challenging) to the table.
25 min
543
The Productivity Habits with Ben Elijah
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.
28 min
544
The End of Jobs with Taylor Pearson
In this episode, Mike talks with Taylor Pearson, the author of "The End of Jobs" (due out in late June 2015). They discuss the process Taylor used to write the book – including drawing inspiration from Paul Graham's work – as well as what "the end of jobs" can mean for you...if you're willing to shift your mindset.
23 min
545
Mind Hacking with Sir John Hargrave
In this discussion, Mike Vardy and Sir Joh Hargrave (author of the forthcoming book "Mind Hacking") talk about how to "hack the mind" in order to optimize productivity and what approaches you can take to start changing the way you operate today.
27 min
546
The Art of Iteration with Omar Zenholm
Omar Zenhom is one half of the team that created The $100 MBA Show and Webinar Ninja. He's spent a lot of time defining and refining what he delivers and recently rebooted what Webinar Ninja was and created a vastly different iteration as a result. In this episode, Mike and Omar speak on the art of iteration, and how evolution and awareness are two of the biggest keys to reaching your potential. (And they also talk about they use the calendar.)
36 min
547
An Introduction To The NOW Year Formula
This episode is being released earlier than usual because it's a special one. Why? Because Mike talks about his "big work" - the thing he's been actively working on for well over a year (and likely subconsciously for five or so). It's called The NOW Year Formula, and he talks about what it is, how it works, and how by adopting it as your productivity approach can help you have more of what you want in life.
28 min
548
It’s All Fun and Games with Dave Caolo
In this episode, Mike talks with Dave Caolo of the podcast Home Work and the website Apple World Today about his newest hobby: tabletop gaming. They discuss the benefits of gaming in terms of helping with productivity and planning as well as offer some suggestions of games to check out.
26 min
549
Flying Solo: A Solo Parenting Productivity Adve...
In this episode, Mike discusses how he dealt with a major workflow change over the past 10 days as a result of his wife going on holiday and him acting as the lone parent during that time. He'll share my successes, his failures, and what you can do to help make any kind of irregularity in your workflow feel less taxing on you.
22 min
550
Beyond Productivity with Erik Fisher
As the host of the Beyond The To Do List podcast, Erik Fisher has interviewed many of the top names in productivity, task, and time management, and now Mike is putting him on the other side of the mic. They talk about habits, productivity approaches, and a lot more.
28 min