The Productivity Lab: Recent Episodes
Mark & Kyle
Productivity Lab is going on hiatus. Kyle and Mark are taking a much needed break for some rest, relaxation, and to focus on other life projects. As with all, things can get very hectic, so you have to remember when to take some time away for yourself. Productivity isn’t about […]
Do you like journals? You know we do! In this episode, we will be taking a look at the Theme System Journal from Cortex. We talk about themes, so how does this work? Dive into this episode to find out what Kyle and Mark think about the journal and how […]
Coming off a holiday break, the duo talks about long breaks. What is a long break for you? A week? Two weeks? Maybe three months? We all need them, but we don’t all get them. Join Kyle and Mark as they discuss what long breaks mean to them and how […]
Another year another round of themes complete. Themes are an important framework for us here at The Productivity Lab. Unlike resolutions, a theme is more flexible and functions more as a guiding star than a solid goal. Themes, unlike resolutions, are (nearly) impenetrable to failure which is why we love […]
It’s finally here! Often discussed, finally reviewed: Deep Work by Cal Newport. Deep Work is “the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task.” In this episode, Kyle and Mark dive into a “deep” discussion about the purpose of the book, its philosophies and strategies. Is “Deep Work” […]
Planning is essential for getting stuff done, some would say it’s just as important as doing. In this episode, Kyle & Mark share their current systems for planning, from the tools they use to their planning philosophies. From Todoist to Trello, from daily planning to year-long projects, learn how the […]
Often talked about, never reviewed, Kyle and Mark bring the Readwise App into the lab for a review. Do you love reading? Are you a writer? A researcher? A lover of saving all things written? This app may be just for you. Join us as we discuss the app and […]
Welcome to our first exclusive episode of The Productivity Lab where we draw inspiration not from the web or books, but from each other. As mentioned in the Our (Strange) Habits episode Kyle has a rather unique approach to managing his projects. By combining the rotating priority board mentioned in […]
How about writing three full pages every morning after you wake up? In this episode, Kyle and Mark review the practice of writing morning pages, a practice started by author Julia Cameron. Will Kyle actually hand write his morning pages every morning? Will emptying their mind ready them for the […]
What sets the professional from the amateur? How does one go from being a novice to being an expert? How can you make sure you’re giving it your all? These are the questions Seth Godin poses in his book The Practice: Shipping Creative Work. In the book, Seth talks about […]
The spiritual successor to our lost episode: The Quantified Self.
In this episode, Kyle and Mark discuss some of their productivity habits that they are a bit obsessed about and that may be a bit strange to all of you ... even us! Get into this discussion to about our strange habits. All of this and more in this episode of The Productivity Lab!
In our recent review of Refuse to Choose by Barbra Sher we got interested in a concept brought up a lot throughout the book: the daybook. The daybook, aka the scanner daybook, is a system of capturing and exploring ideas as they come to you. Have a book idea? Write […]
This is a rebroadcast of Episode 30: Scary Fast Book Review. Today we take a turn from the best sellers list and take a deep dive into the self publishing scene within our work of productivity. In this episode Kyle & Mark review Scary Fast, a little known book by […]
In this episode, we take a look back at the last year of experiments and book reviews. From the app Exist to Refuse to Choose! we rank our top three favorite habits and books and take a look at the habits we didn’t necessarily enjoy. It’s been a fun two […]
Do you want to learn and do everything? Do you find it hard to choose one thing to start? Do you feel like a failure because you never complete a project? You're not alone!
Author Barbara Sher promises to help us achieve everything we want to do. Can she do it? Find out in this episode of The Productivity Lab.
Sometimes our todo list can be overwhelming with too many things of equal importance on it all at once. How do you stop such madness from consuming you? In this episode of The Productivity Lab we test out one method for sorting our todo list know as Dice & Doing. […]
Sometimes it can feel like it’s impossible to get anything done, the world is just so full of distractions and now more than ever it’s possible to distract ourselves with social media, video streaming services, and messaging apps. In this episode of The Productivity Lab Kyle and Mark decide to […]
What where we doing, oh, right!
Continuing with challenges from the Productivity Project book, Kyle and Mark start tracking their distractions. What did they learn? What distracted them the most? Find out in this episode of The Productivity Lab.
The Routinery App helps you create and manage your routines with guided task completion, task timer, and routine reminders. Does the app do what it claims? Does it help you build a routine? Kyle and Mark put the Routinery app to the test; find out their results in this episode of The Productivity Lab.
Three years ago Kyle picked up a book that caught his eye, and little did he know at the time would lead to the creation of this very podcast you’re listening to right now. The that would lead to the genesis of this very show was The Productivity Project by […]
The Routinery App helps you create and manage your routines with guided task completion, task timer, and routine reminders. Does the app do what it claims? Does it help you build a routine? Kyle and Mark put the Routinery app to the test; find out their results in this episode of The Productivity Lab.
Burnout is the silent killer of productivity. It sneaks up on you like a snake in the dark, and then when it’s through with you it leaves you mentally and physically exhausted, unable to fend for yourself. That’s why it’s best to keep an eye out for the signs before […]
Like the infamous Paper Only episode, Mark and Kyle jump back into the world of analog productivity with Analog by Ugmonk! Kyle, the digital loving productivist, and Mark, the paper loving planner, takes the Analog kit for work-day test to see how the system works for me. Did Mark find a new paper love? Will Kyle ditch digital for his to-do's? What did they think about the Analog productivity kit? Find out in this episode of The Productivity Lab.
Sometimes it doesn’t matter just how productive you are there will always be those tasks that you just don’t want to do. Whether it be running to the store to pick up groceries, or planning for a meeting, there are just tasks that our brains do not want to do, […]
Algorithms to Live By from authors Ben Christian and Tom Griffiths, looks at how to apply computer algorithms, such as caching, sorting, or scheduling to your everyday life. In this episode, Kyle and Mark attempt to wrap their heads around the proposed algorithms. Find out what they thought and more in this episode of The Productivity Lab.
Back in the olden days of pre-COVID it was easier for one to separate where one works, relaxes, and sleeps, but in a post-COVID world, those separations have grown harder to distinguish between. From working at your dining room table to working out in your living room, the spaces where […]
In this episode, Kyle and Mark discuss their methods and results in utilizing this new found way of taking notes. Find out in this episode of The Productivity Lab.
The world can seem large and chaotic sometimes. Every day we are bombarded with news about events we can’t control in locations far from us. This can result in anxiety and hopelessness, especially during times of crisis like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But what if we told you that that […]
Don't. Break. The Chain!
How long can you go in building a streak, a habit, or in completing a daily goal with no breaks in-between?
In this episode, Kyle and Mark discuss their methods and results in following the Don't Break the Chain productivity challenge. What did they choose? Did they succeed? Find out in this episode of The Productivity Lab.
The effect of COVID-19 upon the world was not a small one. With remote work becoming the norm overnight workplaces and workers had to adapt to the new challenges of getting stuff done in their own homes. Now that we’ve ten months into the pandemic remote work has become even […]
In time for the new year, Kyle and Mark reflect on their 2020 themes and establish themes for the coming year. Themes are different from resolutions, where resolutions notoriously fail, themes propose a different approach: they provide a filter to make all your decisions through. A theme allows you to […]
What if there was a drink out there that just by the simple act of drinking it could magically make you more productive and focused? And no we’re not talking about coffee. Well, the folks over at Magic Mind sure think they’ve cracked the code, going as far as calling […]
In this episode, Kyle and Mark discuss Time Blocking, what works for them, how they do it and what they've learned. All this and more in this episode of The Productivity Lab.
The modern world is built upon caffeine, from a Starbucks on every corner to a coffeemaker in every office, everything around us can be attributed to busy bodies like you and I consuming the sweat sweat caffeine to make us more alert, more awake, and more focused. But what if […]
It isn't talent that makes people successful. It's Grit. What is it? And do you have it?
Sometimes our task lists can be overwhelming and you don’t know just where to draw the line. There are many different task triage systems out there from the Eisenhower Matrix to the Rule of 3, in this episode Kyle and Mark put to the test the Ivy Lee Method a […]
In this episode, Kyle & Mark put The Kanban Method to the test. See what they think on this episode of The Productivity Lab.
Unfortunately today’s episode has been lost to time. Kyle’s audio file is corrupted and any attempts to recover it have failed so far. We hope to return to the topic of the quantified self again in the future, but for the time being please stand by until our next episode […]
In this episode, Kyle & Mark put the Exist App to work. Does this app help us review and track things that could be affecting our productivity? See what they think on this episode of The Productivity Lab.
Today we take a turn from the best sellers list and take a deep dive into the self publishing scene within our work of productivity. In this episode Kyle & Mark review Scary Fast, a little known book by Canadian-American author Brian Michael Stegner. The book promises that the methods […]
In this episode, Kyle & Mark look back on all the challenges they completed in the lab and rank their favorites and least favorites. Dive into the discussion to see what their thoughts are. Resources and Fun Stuff: NaNoWriMo Camp NaNoWriMo ApexThis Podcast Plan with Me vid by Mark Standing […]
Ever feel tired and groggy in the morning? Are you looking for ways to improve your focus and creativity? Or do you just want to have a better sense of well being throughout the day? Well do we have a challenge for you! In this episode of The Productivity Lab […]
There comes a time when your side-projects and task lists grow and grow until you’re unable to focus on your work. Enter the “working vacation”. Kyle and Mark have been fortunate to use their vacation time to recharge from work and focus on their side projects and health. In this […]
The post iPod world is no stranger to hand crafted playlist to help you focus. Any productivity nerd out there has a go to album, soundtrack or playlist they’ll use to get down to business. From unintrusive ambient music to lo-fi hip-hip beats we all know what will help us […]
In the time of this global pandemic, many are finding themselves looking to improve existing skills or cultivate new ones. But how do you learn quickly and apply these new skills? Enter Ultralearning by Scott Young where we are promised that we can future-proof our careers by learning. In Ultralearning, […]
What if I told you that just by tweaking your coffee a little bit you could improve your focus, increase your energy levels, get healthier and lose weight? According to the official Bulletproof Coffee, just by adding a little bit of butter and some coconut oil you can gain all […]
We continue our “Work from Home” series to try out the 20/20/20 rule. With this rule, Kyle and Mark must work for 20 minutes, then take a 20 second break by walking 20 feet away from their workspace. Has Kyle’s experience changed with this rule? Has this made Mark love […]
These have been unusual times, it seems that over night we have had to upend our routines habits as a means to help flatten the curve. Many offices have required their employees to work from home including the very offices our hosts Kyle and Mark work at. In this episode […]
We’ve read the book on Digital Minimalism, now we put it into practice. While Kyle & Mark don’t go for the full digital detox, we find and identify our existing digital uses and see how we can be intentional with our digital tools. What did Kyle & Mark seek to […]
Join us in this episode of The Productivity Lab for our review of Cal Newport’s latest book, Digital Minimalism. In the book Newport pitches the idea of digital minimalism, which is the practice of not overbearing yourself with tech and apps, and using the tech in your life wisely. Kyle […]
In this episode, Kyle & Mark put their legs to work by turning their workstation into a bike? See how peddling throughout their work day impacts their productivity in this episode of The Productivity Lab. Resources and Fun Stuff: Exercise Peddler League of Women Voters Habit Hub This Guy Edits […]
Do you hate eating? Does stopping for lunch in the middle of your work day bog you down? Do you find eating so many different things on your plate to be a waste of space? Well do we have an episode for you. In this episode of The Productivity Lab, […]
Knowing what to work on is hard enough and if you are like us, our task lists are a mix of things forcing us to often perform context switching. What if there was a way to bulk our tasks and combine them for easier execution? In this episode, Kyle & […]
It might be February, but it’s never too late to plan out the year. This time we’re testing a year-long experiment: yearly themes. Themes are different from resolutions, where resolutions notoriously fail, themes propose a different approach: they provide a filter to make all your decisions through. A theme allows […]
Are your projects piling up? Are your task list and to-do lists out of control? Do you find that you are always overwhelmed with the things you need to do? Then you need to listen to our third book review for Getting Things Done. In this episode, Kyle & Mark […]
Between last week’s review of Forest and the episode before it on the Mobile Monochrome method, we’ve explored apps that are supposed to limit our phone usages. Instead of trying to avoid our phones this time, we wanted to praise the apps that make us more productive people. In this […]
In this episode, Kyle & Mark, reeling from their Mobile Monochrome challenge, head back to the land of time tracking and put the Forest App to work. Does this help keep us focused on our tasks? Does it block us from using our mobile devices? See how they fared on […]
It’s been over a decade since the first iPhone came out, launching the smartphone revolution. Since then smartphones have gone from a novelty to a necessity in our daily lives, and as the smart phone has grown more and more ubiquitous so have concerns about the addicting behavior associated with […]
In this episode, Kyle & Mark take inspiration from the book Atomic Habits by James Clear and tackle two of their bad habits. See what habits they chose to tackle and how they fared on this episode of The Productivity Lab. Resources and Fun Stuff: Atomic Habits Book Review Toggl […]
Welcome to our second book review! In this episode Mark and Kyle sit down to review the hit sensation in productivity circles around the world: Atomic Habits by James Clear. Just published over a year ago Jame Clear’s book took the productivity and self improvement corners of the internet by […]
Everything comes to a head for a final look at the book Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey. In this episode, Kyle & Mark put the book to the test by executing the methods put forth by Chris Bailey and seeing how it impacts their day-to-day. Find out how things went and […]
Time tracking is a hot topic in the world of productivity. We only have so many hours in a day and sometimes it’s best to know exactly how you’re spending them, especially in the world of getting stuff done. Have you ever wondered how many hours you actually put into […]
In this episode’s experiment, Kyle and Mark take a note from Hyperfocus and log how their attention is spent every hour. They take a look into their own data and figure out how they spend their time and use it to build a more productive and fulfilling week. Resources and […]
In this episode, Kyle & Mark put a pause on their productivity experiments to share their review of the book Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey. See what they thought on this episode of The Productivity Lab. Resources and Fun Stuff: Hyperfocus Eisenhower Matrix Focused episode on Moving the Needle Sleep Smarter […]
In this episode’s experiment, Kyle & Mark bring out their pen and paper again and test out the claims of gratitude journaling. Could taking a little time out of your day to write down things that you’re grateful for really make that big of a difference in your happiness? How […]
In this episode’s experiment, Kyle & Mark retrieve their tossed smartphones and unlock their laptops to see how they fare in the digital-only world. Kyle says goodbye to his notebook, and Mark struggles to re-enter the digital world. Find out if ditching paper for the processor is good for you […]
In this episode’s experiment, Kyle & Mark toss their smartphones out the window, and lock their laptops up (well, kinda) and embark on a journey paved on paper paths. The two eliminate their go-to digital task managers and hit the stationary store for some good old fashioned notebooks. Kyle struggles […]
Welcome to The Productivity Lab, the show that puts the tips, tricks, and methods of getting things done to the test. In our first-ever experiment, we bring our morning routines under the microscope by adding a dash of cold showers and a pinch of morning meditations to top it off. […]
Welcome to The Productivity Lab, the show by productivity nerds for productivity nerds. Every two weeks Mark (@askmarkio) & Kyle (@kylesq9) review the tips, tricks, and methods people use to get things done and let you know if it’s up to snuff. From taking a blistering cold shower every morning […]