David Sparks and Mike Schmitz are not nearly as productive as they’d like to be. Join these fellow travelers (and a bunch of special guests) as they share the best ways to get focused, and talk through their successes and failures along the way.

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David Sparks

MacSparky.com

Mike Schmitz

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    Latest Episodes

    #153: A Wandering Mind, with Kourosh Dini

    June 7th, 2022 · 59 minutes

    Kourosh Dini is back to talk about being with the work and the dark side of flow.

    #152: Mental Models

    May 24th, 2022 · 79 minutes

    David & Mike share some of their favorite mental models and how to use them for better sensemaking.

    #151: The Bento Method, with Francesco D'Alessio

    May 11th, 2022 · 66 minutes

    Francesco D'Alessio joins us to talk about the state of productivity apps, picking the right tools, and his new app, Bento.

    #150: Optimize for Intentionality

    April 26th, 2022 · 88 minutes

    David & Mike celebrate episode 150 by talking about focus traps and answering a bunch of listener questions.

    #149: Asking Questions, with Marc Champagne

    April 12th, 2022 · 72 minutes

    Marc Champagne (author of Personal Socrates) joins us to talk about mental fitness, journaling, and why simply asking the right questions can change your life.

    #148: Savoring the Moment, with Chris Bailey

    March 29th, 2022 · 89 minutes

    Chris Bailey is back to talk about his dopamine fast, the art of savoring, and avoiding the productivity racket.

    #147: Task Management & Focus

    March 15th, 2022 · 86 minutes

    David & Mike revisit the topic of task management to talk about Mike's Obsidian task management experiment and their (very different) use of checklists.

    #146: The Extended Mind, with Annie Murphy Paul

    March 1st, 2022 · 61 minutes

    Author Annie Murphy Paul joins us to talk about playing with ideas, working in groups, and other ways to extend the mind.

    #145: Focus & Your Environment

    February 15th, 2022 · 81 minutes

    David & Mike consider how the environment affects our ability to focus and share the very different ways they set up their workspaces.

    #144: Enough, with Patrick Rhone

    February 1st, 2022 · 86 minutes

    Patrick Rhone joins us to talk about analog productivity, knolling, mise en place, and staying focused while wearing many hats.