Present & Productive

Refresh Your Reading List What's back-to-school without new books? September is the perfect time to reignite a dormant reading habit. Personally, I love starting my mornings with a few minutes of inspiring pages - it propels me forward for the workday ahead! Sneak a peek at my top 12 favorites, featuring research-packed gems like "Off the Clock" by Laura Vanderkam, "Tools of Titans" by Timothy Ferris, and "Grit" by Angela Duckworth.

Ready to hear something positively heartbreaking? 91% of Americans will give up on their New Year's resolutions before the end of the year. That means only 9% of workers follow through on their goals. Major yikes. Today's podcast episode is designed to help you prepare a smooth path toward your goals... so you can be part of that rare 9% who follow through. Together, we walk through three easy steps that you can use to leverage the neuroscience of joyful productivity - and make your whole goal-pursuing process as awesome as possible! My mission is to help high performers align their intentions with their time, so they can reclaim the joy of work and drop into flow on demand in today's productivity-obsessed work culture. My goal for today's podcast is that you'll learn how to design your goals in a way so that you can stay motivated all year long, effortlessly. You'll learn how to shift your brain out of anxious beta wave state, into a calmly focused alpha wave state with three simple prompts: Identify the core move associated with your goal Get crystal clarity on how you want to feel when you reach your goal Unlock your imagination to make the journey as awesome as possible Dive into today's episode and get ready to fall so in love with your goals that it will be impossible not to achieve them!

Today's podcast episode is one of my annual favorites!

Your 2022 Gift Guide for Friends and Family who wish they could be more joyfully productive in the new year

Join me in an immersive podcast episode as we walk through the Five Whys exercise to reconnect with your purpose and passion. Have you ever found yourself asking this niggling question in the back of your mind… "Can I actually be more joyful and more productive?" Only you can answer that question for yourself. And I think life is too short for any answer besides "abso-freaking-lutely!" Today's podcast episode shares a powerful exercise to fall back in love with your goals. This exercise comes from lean project management in the corporate strategy world, but gets deeply personal effective results. It's a simple exercise that you can do whether you're just starting out or reviving an old goal that may feel a bit stale. This exercise requires your presence, taps into your purpose and reignites your passion - with the ultimate aim to get you back on track and propel you forward as we look to the last quarter of the year. My goal for today's podcast is that by the end you'll have a living document to reignite your passion for your most important goal so you can ultimately end 2022 with pride and start 2023 on your best footing.

What happens during a silent retreat? What's the point? Why would someone go on a silent retreat... willingly?!? If you've ever been curious about any of these questions, then you'll love today's podcast episode! I'll talk about why I chose to go on the retreat (yes, I voluntarily decided to spend 5 days in silence), what happens during a silent retreat, and the 6 big learnings I brought home from the monastery into everyday life. Make space for silence, beneath your habitual thought streams, and watch as your sense of the world and self transforms. Stick around for the end of the episode, where I offer some reflection questions around different ways you might sprinkle a dose of zen into your daily routine. This is a jam-packed episode with research and personal stories. Every time I create a podcast episode, my goal is to serve you with insight and inspiration to better align your mind with your time. If this episode served you, please consider sharing it with a friend or a co-worker. I believe each of us has an opportunity to lift up and support those whose lives are linked with ours. I'm so grateful you're a part of the Present and Productive Podcast community!

Today's podcast episode is all about the "F" word… Failure! Left unchecked, Fear of Failure is paralyzing. Your mind races. Your heart rate rises. Your stomach tightens. It's essential to ⚠️ recalibrate Fear of Failure and ⚠️ correct the brain's negativity bias. Redefine what "Failure" means in today's podcast episode... So "Failure" creates less fear & more motivational fire

Have you ever been swirled into binge-watching a tv show? You know that spooling circle kinda sucks you into the next episode and there's a time warp when hours fly by before you can reach to press pause? Yes yes YES! (Waving both hands in the air over here!) TV binge-watching used to be my kryptonite - and a hefty wrecking ball to my energy, job performance, and social confidence. By the end of this episode, you'll have a step-by-step plan to break your tv addiction - or whatever other sticky habit you're embarrassed to admit to. Become the kind of person who never needs to watch tv to escape your own life.

It's FINALLY here! July 2022 has arrived - and with the summer humidity it's a great time to reflect on how far you've come over the past six months. In today's Present and Productive Podcast episode, we walk through 3 short but powerful reflection questions to celebrate how you're successes and growth to date. Taking time to celebrate and learn from the past six months, we'll look forward to the next half of the year. Join me for this super special episode - my first-ever live video podcast - outside over a cup of coffee on my porch. With hair flying all over the place, I'll reveal my personal goals in January and how they've evolved to new goals for the quarter ahead. Thank you for joining me in this celebratory episode - and I can't wait to see what dreams you love into life over the months ahead!

Imagine starting your week with a line of sight into all of your different workstreams, critical next steps on your projects, and the bandwidth you have to take on new work. Today's episode shares one simple tool to streamline your task management so you can keep a handle on everything that keeps your world going round. That's the magic of a Kanban board: one of the simplest solutions around for effective task management. Everyone deserves to have peace of mind and confidence in their daily routine and workflow. There is enough time to get everything done that matters, and with a Kanban board you can take the agony of an endless to-do list and replace it with clarity and calm.

If you're curious why 2-3 goals is actually more effective in the long-term than setting, let's say, 7-10, you're going to love this episode.When you apply the principle that less is more when it comes to your goals, you'll create more focus and momentum in your life. Stop feeling spread thin and make your goal achievement easier and more joyful, today. Just imagine what would happen if you could build a little bit of momentum consistently on 2-3 goals for 90-days?

When you know what really matters, you can prioritize it over anything else. Most people wait for the kinds of moments that really matter to pop out of thin air… but if you're tired of feeling frustrated, stressed out and overburdened, this quick life-design exercise might just do the trick! Today's podcast episode is an interactive exercise. Together, we walk step by step through a transformational life exercise that will help you experience more of those vibrant moments that matter. Preparing for more moments that matter is one of the greatest returns on investment to improve your quality of life, relationships and mental health. Taking the time now to identify and design your life for moments that matter can significantly shift how you experience your life.

If you're fed up or burned out by traditional goal setting, this episode is for you my friend! Today's episode reveals 4 research-backed principles behind setting goals that keep your fire burning... all year long! Hop into today's episode to hear this powerful research distilled into a simple, memorable acronym. Why not make 2022 your best year yet?

Are you ready to celebrate 2021 and set your sights for the new year ahead? Taking time to reflect and celebrate your milestones and learnings from the past year is a tremendous step towards discovering meaningful goals that will fuel your focus and energy throughout the years ahead - no matter what twists and turns life brings! Meaningful goals aren't pulled from thin air or from someone else's expectations... they come from the story of your own life. Listen and reflect on that story with today's prompts, and you'll lay vital groundwork for meaningful goals in 2022.

Creative, thoughtful gift ideas for the holidays that are sure to support your loved ones to being healthier and happier in 2022. In today's episode I'm revealing my ten favorite holiday gifting ideas. Many of the loved ones in my life have gift-giving as one of their love languages... so I always invest extra time and care in finding creative, meaningful gifts that are sure to delight their faces when the wrapping comes off. Hop into today's episode to learn more about why I absolutely love these gift ideas. Everything I recommend below has made a difference in my personal life. Full disclosure - because I love these products so much, many of them have affiliate links on my blog, presentandproductive.com.

My top three new discoveries and favorite learnings from this Year's Biohacking Conference that you can implement today! Whenever I use the term ‘biohacking,' I cringe a little bit on the inside. I mean, what does biohacking even mean? People with tech embedded into their bodies, half-person, half-robot? As someone who's been biohacking for nearly a decade, I like to purport a very different definition. One all about streamlining systems for vibrant living. Someone who's proactive about figuring out their optimal health. And, of course, the best biohacks are backed by scientific research. This year I had an incredible opportunity to volunteer at the annual biohacking conference. In gratitude for experiencing this amazing event – full of health and wellness innovators of every kind – I'm sharing my conference highlights with the Present and Productive podcast community!

Today I love coaching creatives in simple, effective time management skills, but most of my life managing time was a huge struggle. After spending too many years running around feeling like a headless chicken, I had a moment of insight that sparked a craving within me: What were the secrets of those people who 'had it all together'? This episode is all about the story behind the Present & Productive Planner Journal. I reveal why I created the Present & Productive Planner Journal and the journey of research behind its design.

Visualizing your time each day is an essential tool for effective time management. Break free from our culture's ineffectual obsession with the endless to-do list! Visualizing your time is about freeing yourself - so you can align how much time you have with where your time is spent. Learn the brain-boosting benefits of visualizing your time - plus the simple strategy to make visualizing your time an effortless part of your daily routine.

A 5- or 10-minute gratitude walk might be the practice you need to start your day off with sunshine (no matter the weather forecast)! Today's episode shares my #1 favorite way to start the day: a gratitude walk. Dive into today's episode to learn why a gratitude walk is a powerful tool to transform your outlook - without having to 'fake' positivity. We'll walk through three simple steps to create a powerful gratitude walk practice to strengthen your mindset all day long.

WARNING: COURAGE REQUIRED. Presence is becoming a buzzword, but what is all of the buzz about? And do you really know what presence is? Today's episode is all about why presence is a skill that can be practiced and the benefits of consistent presenting time (that's right, time spent only on being present ; ). As always, I'm revealing one of my all-time-favorite exercises for practicing presence... in only 2-3 minutes. Hop on in because today's episode is sure to be worth your while!

What's a Tipping Point? A behavioral cue that replaces a negative trigger with positive reinforcement for a healthy habit. With the help of a bonus Health Habits Worksheet to guide you through today's episode, you can transform your daily routines into outstanding Healthy Habits in three simple steps. Because the building blocks for an outstanding quality of life are outstanding daily habits!

Stop depleting yourself in the workday and start recharging with micro-exercise breaks. It's hard to take a break in a culture where success means working nonstop to the point of exhaustion. The truth is, your energy is your greatest asset - for your work and your family. That's why today's episode shares a simple, effective strategy: micro-exercise breaks. All it requires is a bit of forethought and the tiniest investment of time. My challenge to you: at the end of today's episode make a list of 3 things you can do in a 30-second to 4-minute micro-exercise break! Put that list on a sticky note or into a phone reminder, and watch your energy levels improve with a sprinkling of micro-exercise breaks in your workday.

You probably already know that exercise is key to boosting your brainpower and energy all day long. But when most people think about exercise, they think about long, hard, and stressful workout at the gym that's time-consuming and stinky. Merely the thought of exercise shuts them down. I know that you can do so much better. Tune into today's episode to learn about how smiling during exercise can get you the results you want, faster, and learn five simple steps to find an exercise routine that lights you up!

Taking time to review your goals is a waste of time, right? Why review your goals, when you could be out there, making things happen? Think again, friend. Just a couple of minutes spent to review your goals can pay off tremendous dividends, giving you insight into the best way forward. If you're looking for simple ways to build time to review your goals into your regular routines, hop into today's episode now!

Welcome to a new quarter! With the start of a new season comes a fresh opportunity to get clear on what really matters, connect with your 'why,' and set fresh goals for the quarter ahead! Today's episode shares a streamlined strategy for assessing your goals from the last quarter, reflecting on lessons learned, and setting new quarterly goals with confidence - and a dash of fun along the way.

Building on last week's episode about better decision-making in the face of uncertainty, this week shares the ultimate strategy for facing your fear of failure: Planning to Fail. Don't let your fear of failure keep you stuck from making your next big move! Planning to fail presents a series of reflective questions that guide you through 1) imagining your worst-case scenario 2) thinking through specific strategies to repair the damage of your nightmare scenario and 3) confronting the timing or other circumstances currently keeping you 'paralyzed' from taking action.

Here it comes. You're faced with a big decision, like whether or not to start applying for a new job. It looms in the back of your mind 24/7. You keep running through every possible outcome, every worst-case scenario.... but you're not making any progress. This week's episode is for anyone who's ever gotten caught-up in a thought swirl when faced with a momentous decision. Learn how to put your thought process through its paces by applying a decision tree to visualize next steps and possible outcomes.

How do you face the unknown? Today's episode is all about how you can embrace uncertainty to get 'unstuck' on your goals. I reveal the hidden benefits of uncertainty and quick reflection questions to use your fear as fuel to move forward.

At any point in time, you have the power to choose between chaos and peace. Stop the negative spiral of self-doubt in its tracks and find the clarity of mind you deserve by cultivating presence: a core leadership skill for more productivity at work, and greater joy at home. Presence is the key to confident leadership, and this episode shares three simple exercises you can practice anytime, anyplace to stay grounded and step into a leadership position with ease.

Do you ever feel like you're stuck following someone else's agenda? Or someone else is running your life's schedule? Whether you're an entrepreneur or you clock into a 9-5 job, you are ultimately responsible for how you spend your time. Stay out of a victim mentality and step into the decision maker's seat. Because you are the CEO of your own life.

If you ever get caught in the telltale trap that "I don't have enough time to get everything done," today's episode is for you. Shifting from a time scarcity mindset is a complex, long-term process. This mindset shift is an absolute favorite of my clients, and I'm sharing it with you today because the prioritization mindset is like having a super-power guiding you towards success! Today's episode reveals simple steps you can take towards a more beneficial mindset: by applying the prioritization lens, you can make sure you have all the time you need for what matters most.

Many high-performers are constantly trying to get through their to-do list, as quickly as possible. They measure their worth by how many things they can "check-off" by the end of the day.... until they are overwhelmed in a flood of tasks. Today's episode is all about first identifying and then shifting out of the #1 Time Mindset Trap. So you can stop that negative spiral into overwhelm from a relentless to-do list. Learn why this "efficient" time mindset trap is costing you time - and peace of mind - so you can escape.

I chose to spend the first week of 2021 in a social media detox, and the results were a little shocking to me. It wasn't as if I didn't know the challenges posed by social media - it's common knowledge that those brightly colored apps are distracting - but I wasn't fully aware of the overall impact of social media on my mental health and anxiety levels. That's why I'm sharing some eye-opening social media stats and a proven, easy-to-use Social Media Intention Plan. Because we can all use a friendly reminder of the real purpose of using social media.

Ready to turn the page into a new year... but it kind of feels like nothing is changing? You might be ready for the 2020 Look Back Exercise to Leap Forward! The Look Back Exercise is an important opportunity to review challenges from 2020 and mine them for the valuable lessons learned. Once you look back and see the benefits of 2020's challenges - and boy were there challenges! - you'll be ready to integrate those lessons into a new approach for 2021. We all know that flipping a piece of paper on the wall doesn't mean anything. The true energy comes from within.

What if there were one thing that would help you navigate 2021, no matter how much pivoting is required? Today's podcast episode dives into the power of core values to guide you through 2021, wherever your goal-pursuit journey might take you. Learn the research behind operationalizing your core values so you can show up fully to all that 2021 has to offer.

While there's nothing magical about January 1st, there's something marvelous about brushing out the proverbial cobwebs of 2020 and starting the new year with a fresh slate. Whether or not you're doing much housekeeping this time of year, today's episode has just the exercise you need to prepare for a fresh start in 2021. In this interactive episode, we'll quickly tour 14 areas of your life and reveal good goal ideas for the year ahead ; )

2021 is starting to peek its friendly face around the corner... and that means countless humans are setting fantastic goals for growth and change in the personal and professional lives. The only problem? 92% of goal-setters will fail to achieve their New Years resolutions. Today's episode gets personal for me... I've felt let down by traditional goal-setting too many times to count. I want to set goals that last. If you're looking for a better way to set goals that are worthwhile, achievable, and aligned with your values for long-term growth, you're going to love today's special Milestone Exercise. Use the Milestone Exercise to reflect briefly and set goals that last in the new year. You, my friend, belong in the 8% of goal achievers ; )

"I like to work on my own time, not be tied down by a schedule." "A daily schedule makes me feel nervous - I'm always behind!"I know my big goals and projects already, so I don't really need to create a daily schedule." "Why should I spend time designing my day when I could be getting straight to work?!" If you find yourself nodding your head right now, you're going to love today's episode! In this episode, I reveal the two root causes of an overwhelming schedule (and the cognitive biases behind them, of course), and walk you step by step through the #1 daily scheduling tip to create more spaciousness in your agenda.

Do you find it frustrating to work from home without the clear boundaries of a separate office space? Does your job bleed into your personal life, and vice versa? Now that 58% of U.S. workers are remote, it's time to level-up your work from home skills. With a little bit of planning, remote-working can, and should, empower you to be more productive than ever before. Even if you've been working from home for a while, you'll benefit from today's episode because all of the tips promote peak performance. Today's strategies will help you eliminate distractions in your workplace, whether you're based at home or in the office!

Are you born with an innate passion or is passion developed? Research reveals that passion comes from strategically testing and developing interests until passion emerges. Today's episode describes what passion is, why its important, and the simple exercise you can do to move forward on your unique path to passion.

What's the secret recipe for more energy and wellbeing? You guessed it, gratitude. Today's special Thanksgiving episode dives into why giving thanks once in a while just doesn't cut it, and the tremendous benefits from a consistent, long-term gratitude practice. As an extra bonus, we explore three different approaches to gratitude from three leaders who have changed the world. When your daily gratitude practice starts to rewire your brain for more creativity, presence, and forward-thinking solutions, you'll know without a doubt how gratitude changes everything.

Ever wondered why sometimes you get so absorbed in your work that time seems to stand still? This state of heightened focus and concentration is called flow, and it's accessed by being fully present to the work at hand. Flow can turbocharge productivity by 500% while increasing your sense of happiness and satisfaction. Learn how to find your individual flow profile and access the flow state more often, for better results. Turn off notifications, clear your workspace from distractions, set a timer and give yourself permission to flow!

The research is in! Presence is the gateway to productivity at work and fostering the creative process. Today's episode dives into the research behind presence and productivity and offers two simple strategies you can start doing today to cultivate presence for better focus at work and stronger relationships.

The one thing you need to confidently go after your goals, the guiding question you need to ask before setting your next goal, and why I started this podcast.