Productivity

This article is on the longer side, but I wrote it for those who won’t mind—and it’s extra skimmable if you do! Takeaway: Smartphones are the ultimate modern necessity—unfortunately! Five takeaways that I learned switching from a smartphone to a flip phone for a month: the more screen time we get, the worse our mental

On this episode, we chat about lessons learned from Chris’s experiment to switch to a flip phone for a month. Topics covered include: The impetus for the experiment; How smartphones are not meant to see switched away from; The phenomenon of zombiefication; The correlation between screen time and mental health; Reflecting on why the smartphone

On this episode, we chat about subscription overload—and which ones we think are worth the money. Topics covered include: The productivity apps we subscribe to; How basically everything is a subscription service; Opt-in versus opt-in commitments; How subscriptions have changed over time; Apps that take the subscription thing too far; How to do a subscription

On this episode is my conversation with Jennifer Petriglieri, author of the book Couples That Work. On this episode we chat about: The three transitions couples tend to go through; How couples become interdependent; “Couple contracting”; How we recalibrate to what we want; Having a “secure base” in a relationship; Playing with our identities; Whether

Takeaway: When it comes to how we experience life, two things matter: what happens, and how we think about what happens. Which of the two is more important is debatable Estimated Reading Time: 1 minute, 58s. I have a theory about the events that make up our lives: what happens doesn’t matter as much as

Feedback is one of those icky subjects. At Think Productive, we’ve been on a mission recently to drive up our own feedback culture, as well as it being something we help many of our clients do too. This means getting savvy about both giving and receiving feedback. It’s never easy, but here are a few

On this episode, we chat about Chris’s experiment to use a flip phone for a month. Topics covered include: The utility we get from smartphones; Big phones versus small phones; The “jobs to be done” theory of using our devices; How gathering has become digital; How communication norms have changed over time; Managing norms within

On this episode, we chat about a potpourri of fun topics, including: What we’ve learned after 100 episodes; How to drink a glass of champagne; Our go-to productivity apps and accessories; Fantastical’s 40% price increase; Whether we still enjoy doing the show together; Tips for stimulation fasting;  How we manage our time every day; How

Takeaway: When you’re uncertain about whether to put a great new idea into a project or save it for the next one, my default approach is to always include it. In my experience, this will make your current project more interesting and enjoyable. Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes, 6s. I’m not sure who needs this

On this episode, I chat with Gloria Mark, the author of the new book Attention Span. Topics covered include: The benefits of managing our attention deliberately; Why (and whether) we lose control of our behavior using our devices; What makes email so damn stressful; The “attention traps” we fall into; How rote tasks are actually