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 can make us unhappy; “Time confetti” and our phone; Why a phone doesn’t provide us with depth of experience; Raw material for change; Richness and depth of...
Jul 18, 2023•35 min
Exploring the science behind napping.
Jul 04, 2023•24 min
We dig into the research surrounding multitasking—including where it does and doesn’t work.
Jun 20, 2023
On this episode, we chat about our favorite productivity gadgets. Topics covered include: Our brief thoughts on the Apple headset (and other announcements); Having cables everywhere; Apple’s World Adaptor Kit ( Apple.com ); The Timeular time tracker ( Timeular.com ); The Aqara FP2 ( Aqara.com ); Logitech Spotlight Remote ( Logitech.com ; Amazon.com ); MagSafe Battery Pack ( Apple.com ); Sonos Roam ( Sonos.com ; Amazon.com ); The Elgato Key Light (Elgato.com; Amazon.com ) and CamLink 4K ( Elgato....
Jun 06, 2023•40 min
In this episode, I chat with Cal Newport, the author of A World Without Email , about his book—and how we can manage email during such a distracting time. You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below! The post Podcast: My chat with Cal Newport about email appeared first on Chris Bailey .
May 23, 2023•30 min
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 we should account for love in our career decisions. Links mentioned in this episode: Book: Couples That Work You can listen (and subscribe) to the...
May 09, 2023•34 min
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 social groups; Re-evaluating our relationship with our smartphone; What to be mindful of with our phone. Links mentioned in this episode: The Alcatel Go Flip 3 ; The Pun...
Apr 25, 2023•31 min
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 to account for time pressure in planning your days. Links mentioned in this episode: Book: How to Calm Your Mind Wikipedia: Parasocial interaction The post Podca...
Apr 11, 2023•41 min
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 good for us and replenish our energy; The countless factors that influence our attention; How we all have different preferences when it comes to multitasking. Links men...
Mar 28, 2023•35 min
On this episode, we chat about how to get into a state of flow, where we’re totally immersed in what we’re doing. Topics covered include: What a “flow state” is; The characteristics of a flow state; Shortcuts to help us get into a state of flow; How flow helps us perform better with creative tasks; When a flow state isn’t helpful; The “flow channel”; Why we shouldn’t always evaluate how we’re doing as we work; The steps for focusing on something, and how these can help us enter a flow state. Lin...
Mar 14, 2023•29 min
On this episode, we chat about Chris’s latest experiment, to switch to a flip phone from a smartphone for a period of a month (to start). Topics covered include: How great the flip phone era was; How Ardyn feels about this experiment; The 6 reasons Chris is giving up his smartphone; The downsides to large screen phones; Whether smartphones are a net good in our lives; How personal the technology in our life has become; The “jobs” we “hire” our devices to do for us. Links mentioned in this episod...
Feb 28, 2023•30 min
On this episode, we welcome Laura Vanderkam back on the podcast to chat about her new book, Tranquility by Tuesday . Topics covered include: The three categories to use to plan your days and your life; Why we should plan our weeks on Friday afternoon; Laura’s daily planner of choice; How doing something three times a week makes it a habit; How carving out more white space can make us more productive; How to get more out of our leisure time; How to introduce more novelty into our days to slow dow...
Feb 14, 2023•35 min
On this episode, we chat about how we like to go “novelty hunting,” especially in the digital world. Topics covered include: What “novelty hunting” is; The connection between novelty and dopamine; The three dopamine factors; The “novelty bias”; How novelty hunting is more stressful than we give it credit for; Superstimuli; How novelty changes our perception of time; Awareness of our novelty hunting; How novelty hunting used to look a lot different before the internet; What to do about it! Links ...
Jan 31, 2023•27 min
On this episode, we chat about the science of “savoring”—the process through which we enjoy our lives. Topics covered include: How “savoring” is the process of converting positive experiences into positive emotions; The productivity benefits of savoring; How savoring helps us become less anxious; The psychological and neurological benefits of savoring; The balance between striving and savoring; How scarcity leads us to enjoy something more; The five ways we can savor everyday life; The “savor li...
Jan 17, 2023•24 min
On this episode, we chat about ideas from Chris’s new book, How to Calm Your Mind ! Topics covered include: How a calm mind can make us significantly more productive; How anxiety shrinks our cognitive performance; What calm actually is; How anxiety is a spectrum; How presence is the key to productivity, and how to find it; The “accomplishment mindset”; The various drafts of How to Calm Your Mind ; How we need dopamine, and also how it can lead us astray; Our brain’s “acquisition mentality”; The ...
Jan 05, 2023•37 min
The third annual holiday spectacular!
Dec 20, 2022•26 min
This episode was originally published on May 7, 2019. In this episode, I chat with David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done , about his book—and how we can carve out more space for having ideas. You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below! The post Podcast: My interview with David Allen, author of Getting Things Done appeared first on Chris Bailey ....
Dec 06, 2022•23 min
On this episode, we chat about what burnout is and how to overcome it., Topics covered include: Our own experiences with burnout; The three characteristics of burnout; The stepping stones to burnout; The two types of stress we face throughout the day; Whether burnout is a primarily workplace phenomenon; The six factors of our work that contribute to burnout. Links mentioned in this episode: Book: How to Calm Your Mind The Maslach Burnout Inventory test (paid) You can listen (and subscribe) to th...
Nov 22, 2022•29 min
On this episode, we chat about our GTD-inspired weekly reviews—and what we include in them. Topics covered include: What a “weekly review” is; The steps to doing a weekly review; How flexible to be with your review; What we each review every week; Including an “accomplishments list” in the review; Working reflections into the weekly review; The weird way Chris manages his daily schedule; The confidence a weekly review can give you; The payoff of a weekly review over time. Links mentioned in this...
Nov 08, 2022•25 min
A few of our favorite writing tips—and the ones we use every day
Oct 25, 2022•34 min
On this episode, we briefly chat about Chris’s new book and then dig into the main topic: self-talk. Topics covered include: Chris’s next book, How to Calm Your Mind ; The proportion of our internal monologue that’s negative; How self-talk can get in the way of productivity; How universal having negative thought patterns is; How meditation helps tame negative self-talk; How to not zero in on negative thought patterns; The idea of “task-unrelated thought”; How learning to focus helps combat negat...
Oct 11, 2022•25 min
On this episode, we chat about why we take certain habits for granted, including the ones that actively provide us with dividends. Topics covered include: A brief recap on “focus modes” and “focus filters” on iOS; Why habits become invisible; Habits that are actively providing us with dividends; The great habits we each have that we regularly check up on; Why some habits can work too well; How to reflect on habits you want to sustain in the long run. You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast...
Sep 27, 2022•24 min
My interview with James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits.
Sep 13, 2022•30 min
How to become a more productive university student.
Aug 30, 2022•37 min
Practical, tactical ways to measure your daily productivity.
Aug 16, 2022•22 min
On this episode, we chat about task switching—how to get better at it, and the costs of switching tasks too often. Topics covered include: Why multitasking is so fun; How often we switch between tasks as we work; Attentional residue—what it is and how to minimize it; How task switching affects our working memory; How meditation clears our working memory; Our brain’s “novelty bias”; The multiple levels of multitasking; The reminders that come from our digital world. Links mentioned in this episod...
Aug 02, 2022•29 min
How we plan our weeks—and a few favorite books we recently read on vacation.
Jul 19, 2022•28 min
On this episode, we chat about how the best productivity advice helps us live in a way that’s more true to what we value. Topics covered include: The assumptions embedded within traditional productivity advice; Values-based productivity; The ickyness of hustle culture; The addictive nature of achievement; The difficulty of determining our primary values; The 10 primary values; How to reflect on what your deeper values are. Links mentioned in this episode: Book: Why We Love Article: There are jus...
Jul 05, 2022•27 min
On this episode, we chat about the best sources of caffeine—the ones that provide the longest lasting energy. Topics covered include: How caffeine produces a stress response; How our body adjusts to our caffeine “baseline”; The countless sources of caffeine that are out there; The magic of L-theanine; Avoiding the post-lunch caffeine crash You can listen (and subscribe) to the podcast below! The post Podcast: The best caffeine vehicles appeared first on Chris Bailey ....
Jun 21, 2022•19 min
How long your work breaks should be—and how to take them.
Jun 07, 2022•26 min
