Summary:

In Episode #194 Ari interviews Mike Vardy of [The Productivityist](http://productivityist.com/).

Listen as Ari and Mike talk about the value the productive space, and how developing a personal methodology for productivity can help individuals harness tools instead of letting productivity tools control them.

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Time Stamped Show Notes:

– 01:01 – Introduction to today’s show with Mike Vardy

– 02:30 – Links

– 12:02 – Less Doing Boot Camp

– 13:43 – Speaking with Mike Vardy

– 14:02 – Mike’s background in productivity education

– 15:37 – First steps in becoming more productive

– 17:34 – [GTD](http://gettingthingsdone.com/) Principals

– 19:53 – The people of GTD

– 20:54 – Being productive vs. doing productive

– 21:47 – The approach is more important than the app or tool. “Men can become the tools of their tools”

– 23:14 – What aspects of productivity planning work well

– 24:33 – Put personal back in productivity

– 25:51 – [Sanebox](http://www.sanebox.com/l/upgrade-your-inbox-today/) and other email organizers

– 27:04 – [Unroll Me](https://unroll.me/)

– 27:52 – Productivity maintenance vs. growth

– 28:41 – Mike’s daily routines

– 31:21 – Daily themes

– 31:53 – Mike’s Top 3 Tips to be More Productive

– 31:55- Have a simple morning and evening routine

– 32:15 – Write journal entries

– 32:34 – Work by mode 3 Key Points:

1. There is a psychology to productivity—without the psychology, it can’t work.

2. Don’t let your tools take you over.

3. Develop a routine and stick to it—the benefits will be massive.

Resources Mentioned:

– [Pavlok Wristband –](http://buy.pavlok.com/) Pavlok Wristband’s safe electronic stimulus helps relieve users of bad habits like smoking, overeating, and more. – [Tap Slash](http://tapslash.com/)

– Slash is a free keyboard for iPhone & iPad that makes it easy to share anything, without switching apps. Just tap “/” to unlock Places, GIFs, Music, Stickers, Videos, and much more. – [Instant App](http://instantapp.today/) – Instant tracks all your daily activities automatically so that you will be able to notice how you spend time on your smartphone. – [Easy Swag](http://easyswag.co/)

– Easy Swag is powered by Large, a free office admin in Slack that gets your team anything hassle free. – [Synkio Music Library](http://synk.io/library)

– Use Synkio’s to access music professionals who will manage your music and licensing needs. – [Startup Threads](https://www.startupthreads.com/)

– StartupThreads is the easiest way to automatically send custom shirts and apparel to your loyal customers and fans, without having to hold inventory in your office. – [GTD](http://gettingthingsdone.com/)

– ‘Getting Things Done’ is a productivity methodology. – [Sanebox](http://www.sanebox.com/l/upgrade-your-inbox-today/)

– SaneBox works on top of your email account. It prioritizes important emails and summarizes the rest. – [Unroll Me](https://unroll.me/)

– Unroll Me allows you to unsubscribe from subscriptions or combine your favorite subscriptions into one email. – [194MikeVardyOfProductivistInterview”>Evernote](https://www.evernote.com/%3Ca%20href=)

– vernote keeps all your writing in one place, from notes to lengthy research. – [The Productivityist](http://productivityist.com/)

– Mick’s productivity business that provides productivity coaching, events, and podcasts. – Call 1-844-i-do-less – Toll-Free number, Press “0” to speak with a Less Doing Certified Coach – Text DOLESS – Text DOLESS to 33733

Credits:

– Audio Engineering provided by [Chris Mottram](https://www.linkedin.com/pub/christopher-mottram/96/b12/708)

– Original Music provided by [Felix Bird](http://2014.felixbird.com/)

– Show Notes provided by [Mallard — Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/lessdoing/message