OK Productive

We're going to step away from the podcast, but the episodes, website, and social media accounts will remain.

Reach out if you have questions or want …

Differences between 2018 and 2019

• Erik fully embraced Notion for planning
• Leo switched from Todoist to a spreadsheet
• Mastermind meetings for group …

Introduction

• Laura's first email tip: write so the recipient will imagine how their life could be
• How to discover a love of email as a paralegal
• …

Getting your foot in the door

• Sophia's specialty and how she got there from archaeology
• How UpWork led to better pay in writing
• Dealing with the lack …

Introductions

• NaNoWriMo and flash fiction
• Allison Spooner is the author of Flash in the Dark and The Problem with Humans
• Find Allison online at …

In this episode

• What does a "cleared" calendar look like?
• How can clearing the calendar improve one's productivity?
• Why you shouldn't fill up your …

Where to find Tim Mitra online

• @TimMitra on Twitter
• Host of the More Than Just Code Podcast and Spockcast
• Cohost of RoundaboutFM
• it-guy.com
• Author …

In this episode

• The value in public speaking for you and your audience
• How to understand your audience by researching the conference
• Different ways …

Where we plan events

• Erik: Lansing Codes
• Leo: Lansing Marketing Hackers
• Jess: Peers Conference

As self-employed folks, events are a great way to …

Introduction

• Pete Sena (@petesena) is the founder, CEO, and CCO of Digital Surgeons, a design, branding, and digital marketing consultancy
• Pete …

How to build momentum in your day

• First, have a good night of sleep (see episode 1)
• Erik drinks a high-calorie, low-sugar coffee shake (thanks, …

Introduction

• Leo recently presented and wrote about getting started with podcasting
• Leo's motivation for taking a holistic look at what it takes to …

Introduction

• Any active desktop issues with Endgame?
• The unexpected is so memorable, even for simple things like going to the movies

Sleep, habits, …

Introduction

• A little about Christian and how he first met Leo
• Mister Money Mustache, spending less
• Patrick McKenzie, inventor of Bingo Card Creator

Introduction

• Will Gant is a co-host of the Complete Developer Podcast
• How Will and Leo met 
• Will's lightning talk at MicroConf

What's in Will's …

Introduction

• A little about Jonathan Baillie Strong and how he met Leo
• Jonathan's best practices for attending a conference
• Jonathan's daily work

…

First, some revelations:

• Apparently, Leo doesn't like cupcakes 🧁
• 12 habits that destroy your focus and productivity, by Jari Roomer

Multitasking, …

One way to be ok at productivity is to avoid the premature optimization trap.

• Premature optimization is when you try to improve a process before …

Motivation, Motion, and Action

• Be specific about your habits!
• From the book:
  • People who make a specific plan for when and where they will perform a …

Overall Review 

Leo's take:

Reddit

• We tested Alarmy and share our thoughts. This app was recommended to us more than once on r/productivity as a great way to jumpstart your day.

We asked /r/productivity on Reddit what one thing has had the most benefit to productivity. Lots of great answers and explanations, some answers came …

Breaking down large projects

• Work is rarely handed to us in small, easily achievable pieces
• Breaking a project down into small pieces gives you a map

Adjust your definition of "productive"

• Raising and loving children is productive
• Don’t over strain yourself
• Your priorities change once you have …

How to decide when to say no

• The Derek Sivers way: “Hell yeah” or “No”
• If you're in unfamiliar territory: “Hell no” or “Let’s try”
• Many decisions …

Covered in this episode

• New Years Resolutions vs Year in Review
• The importance of reflection and guidance
• How a Year in Review helps give direction …

Previous Episodes 

• Power of Habits
• Goals and Actions
• Top Apps Episode
• A Sleepy Episode

Covered in this episode:

• What is a time waster?
• What time of …

Leo and Erik talk about their experience working on their own and staying sane. They give tips on knowing if you are the right fit, how to be prepared financially, how to stay organizing, and maintain a reasonable …

Erik Gillespie and Leo Dion give some travel recommendations depending on your situation. Whether you are looking to budget travel on a family vacation or its business travel to a conference,  this episode has some …

In the second part of our episode, Leo goes over the productivity apps he uses for time tracking, scheduling, todo lists, reminders, and note-taking.

…

In the first of a two-part episode, Erik discusses his list of top disciplines which have helped him the most.

Music by Leah Fitch

Show Notes and Links

In this episode, Leo and Erik discuss how to make decisions quickly and what are the factors which help making the right decision.

Music by Leah Fitch

…

In this episode, we do our review of The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.

Music by Leah Fitch

In this episode, we expand on goals and resolutions and Leo’s thoughts on how to get there. Erik talks about his motivations for reaching goals. And …

In the second episode, we talk about reaching “good enough” as opposed to perfection, Leo talks about his views on New Year’s resolutions, and Erik …

In the first episode, we talk about our rough goals for the podcast, how Erik’s low-key weekend went, as well as how good sleep habits help our …