Focused
By Relay
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Subscribers: 101
Reviews: 0
Episodes: 244
Description
David Sparks and Mike Schmitz are not nearly as productive as they’d like to be. Join these fellow travelers (and a bunch of special guests) as they share the best ways to get focused, and talk through their successes and failures along the way. Hosted by David Sparks and Mike Schmitz.
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
|
244: You're Holding It Wrong
|
Dec 02, 2025 |
|
243: The Single Source of Truth is On the Fridge, with Thom Gibson
|
Nov 19, 2025 |
|
242: The Case for Analog
|
Nov 04, 2025 |
|
241: Less But Better, with Austin L. Church
|
Oct 21, 2025 |
|
240: Q4 Planning
|
Oct 07, 2025 |
|
239: How to Focus Like a Roman Emperor, with Donald J. Robertson
|
Sep 23, 2025 |
|
238: Knitting Our Parachutes
|
Sep 10, 2025 |
|
237: Everything is Figureoutable, with Max Roberts
|
Aug 26, 2025 |
|
236: Focus Traps
|
Aug 12, 2025 |
|
235: Practical Wisdom for Mindful Living, with John Chandler
|
Jul 29, 2025 |
|
234: Intentional Friction
|
Jul 16, 2025 |
|
233: I Wanna Be Me When I Grow Up, with Kara Monroe
|
Jul 01, 2025 |
|
232: Useful Not True, with Derek Sivers
|
Jun 17, 2025 |
|
231: Overwhelm, AI, and Life's Balancing Acts
|
Jun 03, 2025 |
|
230: Journaling & Intention, with Joe Moyer
|
May 20, 2025 |
|
229: Workflow Check-In
|
May 06, 2025 |
|
228: Time Surfing, with Paul Loomans
|
Apr 22, 2025 |
|
227: Quarterly Planning
|
Apr 08, 2025 |
|
226: The Importance of Review
|
Mar 25, 2025 |
|
225: Tiny Experiments, with Anne-Laure Le Cunff
|
Mar 12, 2025 |
|
224: Chasing Valuable Rabbits, with Chenell Basilio
|
Feb 26, 2025 |
|
223: Solving the Actual Problem, with Ian Byrd
|
Feb 11, 2025 |
|
222: The 2025 Productivity Field Guide
|
Jan 28, 2025 |
|
221: A Focus on Creativity
|
Jan 14, 2025 |
|
220: 2024 Retrospective
|
Dec 31, 2024 |
|
219: A Focused Smorgasbord
|
Dec 17, 2024 |
|
218: Turning Down the Volume, with Stephen Hackett
|
Dec 03, 2024 |
|
217: The Anxious Generation
|
Nov 19, 2024 |
|
216: Wholehearted Transformation, with Amy Wicks
|
Nov 05, 2024 |
|
215: The Sparky Language Model
|
Oct 22, 2024 |
|
214: Solving Gnarly Problems, with Clarke Ching
|
Oct 08, 2024 |
|
213: Developing Skills
|
Sep 24, 2024 |
|
212: Living the Llama Life, with Marie Ng
|
Sep 10, 2024 |
|
211: The Focus MOB
|
Aug 27, 2024 |
|
210: Media Strategies for a Focused Life
|
Aug 13, 2024 |
|
209: A System for Writing, with Bob Doto
|
Jul 30, 2024 |
|
208: Moving the Needle Revisited
|
Jul 16, 2024 |
|
207: What Would Sparky Say?
|
Jul 02, 2024 |
|
206: Rapt
|
Jun 18, 2024 |
|
205: Tasks & Calendars
|
Jun 04, 2024 |
|
204: Analog Productivity, with Jeff Sheldon
|
May 21, 2024 |
|
203: The Little Lies You Tell Yourself, with Jason Snell
|
May 07, 2024 |
|
202: Slow Productivity
|
Apr 23, 2024 |
|
201: What to Do When Things Don't Go Your Way, with Haemin Sunim
|
Apr 09, 2024 |
|
200: Favorite Productivity Hacks
|
Mar 26, 2024 |
|
199: Repotting & Retirement, with Jim Eager
|
Mar 12, 2024 |
|
198: Revisiting Journaling
|
Feb 27, 2024 |
|
197: Feel Good Productivity
|
Feb 13, 2024 |
|
196: Focus & The Reading Life, with Maryanne Wolf
|
Jan 30, 2024 |
|
195: The Productivity Field Guide
|
Jan 16, 2024 |
|
194: I'd Like to Take a Mulligan
|
Jan 02, 2024 |
|
193: The Problem with Mise en Place, with Justin Khanna
|
Dec 19, 2023 |
|
192: Flow State
|
Dec 05, 2023 |
|
191: Multi-Scale Planning
|
Nov 21, 2023 |
|
190: Overdosing on Gratitude, with Karl Staib
|
Nov 07, 2023 |
|
189: Focus & AI
|
Oct 24, 2023 |
|
188: Q4 Planning & The PKM Stack
|
Oct 10, 2023 |
|
187: Drop Zones & Launch Pads, with Jesse J. Anderson
|
Sep 26, 2023 |
|
186: The Burden of Opportunity, with Shawn Blanc
|
Sep 12, 2023 |
|
185: How to Be Miserable
|
Aug 29, 2023 |
|
184: Solving Problems, with Jay Clouse
|
Aug 15, 2023 |
|
183: Practicing Focus
|
Aug 01, 2023 |
|
182: Building Focused Flywheels, with Nathan Barry
|
Jul 18, 2023 |
|
181: Walking Your Own Path, with Justin Moore
|
Jul 04, 2023 |
|
180: A Focused Hodgepodge
|
Jun 20, 2023 |
|
179: Ideal Weeks
|
Jun 07, 2023 |
|
178: Mike's Big Adventure
|
May 23, 2023 |
|
177: The Care and Feeding of Technology, with Mike Rohde
|
May 09, 2023 |
|
176: Doing Less
|
Apr 25, 2023 |
|
175: The To-Don't List
|
Apr 12, 2023 |
|
174: Deep Work, with Cal Newport
|
Mar 28, 2023 |
|
173: Life Has Lifed You, with Mark Metzger
|
Mar 14, 2023 |
|
172: Journaling & Focus
|
Feb 28, 2023 |
|
171: Communication & Focus
|
Feb 14, 2023 |
|
170: Holistic Productivity, with Tim Stringer
|
Jan 31, 2023 |
|
169: How to Calm Your Mind, with Chris Bailey
|
Jan 17, 2023 |
|
168: 2023 Focus Resolutions
|
Jan 03, 2023 |
|
167: 2022 Year in Review
|
Dec 20, 2022 |
|
166: The Social Dilemma
|
Dec 06, 2022 |
|
165: On the River, with Chris Upchurch
|
Nov 22, 2022 |
|
164: Mind Mapping
|
Nov 08, 2022 |
|
163: The Laws of Creativity, with Joey Cofone
|
Oct 25, 2022 |
|
162: Perfectionism
|
Oct 11, 2022 |
|
161: Stolen Focus, with Jean MacDonald
|
Sep 27, 2022 |
|
160: Balancing Calendars and Tasks
|
Sep 13, 2022 |
|
159: The Art of Note-Taking
|
Aug 30, 2022 |
|
158: Humans First, with Rob Krecak
|
Aug 16, 2022 |
|
157: Non-Traditional Measures of Productivity, with Mike Vardy
|
Aug 02, 2022 |
|
156: The State of GTD
|
Jul 19, 2022 |
|
155: 12 Favorite Problems
|
Jul 05, 2022 |
|
154: Building a Second Brain, with Tiago Forte
|
Jun 21, 2022 |
|
153: A Wandering Mind, with Kourosh Dini
|
Jun 07, 2022 |
|
152: Mental Models
|
May 24, 2022 |
|
151: The Bento Method, with Francesco D'Alessio
|
May 11, 2022 |
|
150: Optimize for Intentionality
|
Apr 26, 2022 |
|
149: Asking Questions, with Marc Champagne
|
Apr 12, 2022 |
|
148: Savoring the Moment, with Chris Bailey
|
Mar 29, 2022 |
|
147: Task Management & Focus
|
Mar 15, 2022 |
|
146: The Extended Mind, with Annie Murphy Paul
|
Mar 01, 2022 |
|
145: Focus & Your Environment
|
Feb 15, 2022 |
|
144: Enough, with Patrick Rhone
|
Feb 01, 2022 |
|
143: Thinking Annually
|
Jan 18, 2022 |
|
142: Sparky Gets Focused
|
Jan 04, 2022 |
|
141: You Never Arrive
|
Dec 22, 2021 |
|
140: Your Brain is Not a Computer with Cory Hixson
|
Dec 07, 2021 |
|
139: Soundtracks & Self-Talk
|
Nov 23, 2021 |
|
138: Hyper-Scheduling Revisited
|
Nov 09, 2021 |
|
137: Managing Busy
|
Oct 27, 2021 |
|
136: Social Focus, with Taylor Jacobson
|
Oct 12, 2021 |
|
135: Don't Eat the Frog, with Jesse J. Anderson
|
Sep 28, 2021 |
|
134: Finding Space with Sean McCabe
|
Sep 14, 2021 |
|
133: Success & Failure
|
Aug 31, 2021 |
|
132: Willpower and Your Environment
|
Aug 17, 2021 |
|
131: Liminal Thinking
|
Aug 03, 2021 |
|
130: Toxic Productivity
|
Jul 20, 2021 |
|
129: No One Wants to Work With a Jerk, with Colleen Wainwright
|
Jul 06, 2021 |
|
128: Communication
|
Jun 22, 2021 |
|
127: Focusing a Team, with Ken Case
|
Jun 08, 2021 |
|
126: Productivity vs. Grinding
|
May 25, 2021 |
|
125: Professional Nerd, with Rosemary Orchard
|
May 11, 2021 |
|
124: Reading and Learning
|
Apr 27, 2021 |
|
123: A Focus on Time
|
Apr 13, 2021 |
|
122: Linking Your Thinking with Nick Milo
|
Mar 30, 2021 |
|
121: Analog Focus, with Jeff Sheldon
|
Mar 16, 2021 |
|
120: Caveday with Jake Kahana
|
Mar 02, 2021 |
|
119: Productivity & Meditation, with Chris Bailey
|
Feb 16, 2021 |
|
118: Tasks and Habits
|
Feb 02, 2021 |
|
117: Roles & Goals
|
Jan 19, 2021 |
|
116: The Big Reset
|
Jan 05, 2021 |
|
115: Solving Interesting Problems, with Ernie Svenson
|
Dec 22, 2020 |
|
114: Inputs and PKM Stacks
|
Dec 08, 2020 |
|
113: ADHD and Cognitive Science, with Brittany Smith
|
Nov 24, 2020 |
|
112: Productivity & Creativity
|
Nov 10, 2020 |
|
111: Environmental Focus, with Erik Fisher
|
Oct 27, 2020 |
|
110: Focus with Michael Hyatt
|
Oct 14, 2020 |
|
109: Email Workflows
|
Sep 29, 2020 |
|
108: Pruning with Ian Byrd
|
Sep 15, 2020 |
|
107: The Bullet Journal Method, with Ryder Carroll
|
Sep 01, 2020 |
|
106: Home Offices with Laura Vanderkam
|
Aug 18, 2020 |
|
105: Living the Multipotentialite Life, with Jay Miller
|
Aug 04, 2020 |
|
104: Sleep and Sabbaticals
|
Jul 21, 2020 |
|
103: Systems & Challenges
|
Jul 07, 2020 |
|
102: Analog Productivity with Brad Dowdy
|
Jun 23, 2020 |
|
101: Taking a Sabbatical, with Sean McCabe
|
Jun 09, 2020 |
|
100: Staying Focused with Episode 100
|
May 26, 2020 |
|
99: Working From Home, with Dave Caolo
|
May 12, 2020 |
|
98: Floating with Dave Hamilton
|
Apr 28, 2020 |
|
97: Emotional Overload
|
Apr 14, 2020 |
|
96: Working from Home
|
Mar 31, 2020 |
|
95: Five Years of Freedom
|
Mar 17, 2020 |
|
94: Journaling with Matt Ragland
|
Mar 03, 2020 |
|
93: Attention Overload
|
Feb 18, 2020 |
|
92: Getting Focused Kourosh Dini
|
Feb 04, 2020 |
|
91: Information Overload
|
Jan 21, 2020 |
|
90: Habits > Goals
|
Jan 07, 2020 |
|
89: The Magic of Mind Mapping, with Harald Eckmüller
|
Dec 24, 2019 |
|
88: Annual Check-Ins
|
Dec 10, 2019 |
|
87: Nerds Like Us, with Myke Hurley
|
Nov 26, 2019 |
|
86: Rest is a Weapon
|
Nov 12, 2019 |
|
85: The Depth of Our Madness
|
Oct 29, 2019 |
|
84: Focus is a Super Power
|
Oct 15, 2019 |
|
83: Ideas Over Art, with Mike Rohde
|
Oct 01, 2019 |
|
82: The Hustle
|
Sep 17, 2019 |
|
81: Breaking the Twitch, with Anthony Ongaro
|
Sep 03, 2019 |
|
80: The Power of "No"
|
Aug 20, 2019 |
|
79: Reclaiming Margin, with Shawn Blanc
|
Aug 06, 2019 |
|
78: Changing Defaults with John Zeratsky
|
Jul 23, 2019 |
|
77: You Can't Hack the System
|
Jul 09, 2019 |
|
76: A Failure Across the Board
|
Jun 25, 2019 |
|
75: Intentional Constraints
|
Jun 11, 2019 |
|
74: Moving the Needle
|
May 28, 2019 |
|
73: Productivity and Art with Bob Reynolds
|
May 14, 2019 |
|
72: Heart-Centered Productivity, with Jocelyn K. Glei
|
Apr 30, 2019 |
|
71: Hyper-Scheduling
|
Apr 16, 2019 |
|
70: Digital Decluttering, with Shahid Kamal Ahmad
|
Apr 02, 2019 |
|
69: The Intentional Life
|
Mar 19, 2019 |
|
68: Getting Productive with an Unproductive Boss
|
Mar 05, 2019 |
|
67: Staying Motivated with Laura McClellan
|
Feb 19, 2019 |
|
66: Putting Email in its Place
|
Feb 05, 2019 |
|
65: Hyperfocused with Chris Bailey
|
Jan 22, 2019 |
|
64: The Power of Habits
|
Jan 08, 2019 |
|
63: Lessons Learned
|
Dec 26, 2018 |
|
62: The Year End Audit
|
Dec 11, 2018 |
|
61: The Morning Routine
|
Nov 27, 2018 |
|
60: Be Strategic About It, with Mike Vardy
|
Nov 13, 2018 |
|
59: Kaizen
|
Oct 30, 2018 |
|
58: A Better Path, with Joe Buhlig
|
Oct 16, 2018 |
|
57: Chef = Boss
|
Oct 02, 2018 |
|
56: Iterate in Public, with Sean McCabe
|
Sep 18, 2018 |
|
55: The Math Works
|
Sep 04, 2018 |
|
54: I Have to Try It, with Casey Liss
|
Aug 21, 2018 |
|
53: The Value of Your Time
|
Aug 07, 2018 |
|
52: You Can't Be What You Can't See with Ann Shen
|
Jul 24, 2018 |
|
51: Freedom Frogs
|
Jul 10, 2018 |
|
50: Bet on Yourself
|
Jun 26, 2018 |
|
49: Panting to the Finish Line
|
Jun 12, 2018 |
|
48: Lousy With the Stink of Freedom, with Merlin Mann
|
May 29, 2018 |
|
47: Personal Floating Holiday
|
May 15, 2018 |
|
46: Being Comfortable Is Not an Option, with Jaimee Newberry
|
May 01, 2018 |
|
45: Like Going Back to High School
|
Apr 17, 2018 |
|
44: Maybe You'll Get a Real Job, with David Wain
|
Apr 03, 2018 |
|
43: Don’t Ask Us Permission
|
Mar 20, 2018 |
|
42: Learning Your Creative Rhythms, with Shawn Blanc
|
Mar 06, 2018 |
|
41: A Walk on the Beach
|
Feb 21, 2018 |
|
40: Like Being in a Boat, with Kourosh Dini
|
Feb 06, 2018 |
|
39: Quality Time with a Sledgehammer
|
Jan 23, 2018 |
|
38: Knit Your Parachute on the Way Down, with Thom Zahler
|
Jan 09, 2018 |
|
37: The Twelve-Week Year
|
Dec 26, 2017 |
|
36: My App Story, with John Voorhees
|
Dec 12, 2017 |
|
35: I Guess I'm Felix Unger
|
Nov 28, 2017 |
|
34: I Think I Just Got Fired, with Marco Arment
|
Nov 14, 2017 |
|
33: When You Say Yes to Everything
|
Oct 31, 2017 |
|
32: It's Scary, Dude! with Kathy Campbell
|
Oct 17, 2017 |
|
31: Being Selective About Clients, with Aleen Simms
|
Oct 03, 2017 |
|
30: Tito Needs to Pay the Rent
|
Sep 19, 2017 |
|
29: The Spreadsheet
|
Sep 05, 2017 |
|
28: David's Origin Story
|
Aug 22, 2017 |
|
27: Bird in the Bush
|
Aug 08, 2017 |
|
26: A Batphone to My Heart
|
Jul 25, 2017 |
|
25: Breadcrumb of My Life, with Stephen Hackett
|
Jul 11, 2017 |
|
24: Take Care of Yourself
|
Jun 27, 2017 |
|
23: It's Hard To Get on a Different Train
|
Jun 13, 2017 |
|
22: Staying Agile
|
May 30, 2017 |
|
21: The Second Feedback Episode
|
May 16, 2017 |
|
20: Jason's Origin Story
|
May 03, 2017 |
|
19: Nobody Grades You on the Scaffolding
|
Apr 18, 2017 |
|
18: A Series of Logical Decisions, with Greg Pierce
|
Apr 04, 2017 |
|
17: Stop Digging
|
Mar 21, 2017 |
|
16: R2-D2 on My Desk
|
Mar 07, 2017 |
|
15: Put on the Business Hat
|
Feb 21, 2017 |
|
14: Putting Numbers in Boxes, with Andrew Carroll
|
Feb 07, 2017 |
|
13: Promotion Can Feel Gross
|
Jan 24, 2017 |
|
12: Right Now It's Only Me, with Katie Floyd
|
Jan 10, 2017 |
|
11: Balancing Dollars and Delight
|
Dec 14, 2016 |
|
10: Indie Vacation
|
Nov 29, 2016 |
|
9: The Feedback Episode
|
Nov 15, 2016 |
|
8: Email Is Not Your Job
|
Nov 01, 2016 |
|
7: Be Like a Duck
|
Oct 18, 2016 |
|
6: The Shawshank Redemption, with Shahid Kamal Ahmad
|
Oct 04, 2016 |
|
5: Envision a Bonfire
|
Sep 21, 2016 |
|
4: Location, Location, Location
|
Sep 06, 2016 |
|
3: My Curse and My Reward, with Myke Hurley
|
Aug 25, 2016 |
|
2: Booked Up With Myself
|
Aug 09, 2016 |
|
1: The Temptation of Yes
|
Jul 26, 2016 |