Mikes on Mics

“The Mikes” share their process for daily, weekly and monthly reviews. They also examine ways to use the mid-year point as an opportunity to take stock and potentially reshape priorities for the rest of the year. What Mikes Are Drinking Michael Schechter - Firestone Walker Brewing Company - Double Jack Mike Vardy - Off the Grid - Hoyne Brewing Co. Links The Front Nine — Productivityist Writing to Forget — Productivityist How I Face Scary Stuff: The IDEA Criteria — Productivityist Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net This episode is brought to you by: Squarespace, the secret behind exceptional websites. Go to squarespace.com/70decibels to start your free trial and use the offer code '70decibels6' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Subscribe in iTunes

"The Mikes" are joined by David Hassell, Founder and CEO of 15Five, for a discussion on the challenges with -- and possibilities for -- better communication within organizations. This episode examines how tools can help aid better practices, ways to overcome the tendency for employees to freeze up in front of managers, and a look at how we can better communicate with ourselves. Links 15Five | Team Communication & Reporting Software How Patagonia's Roving CEO Stays in the Loop | Inc.com Scheduled sending and email reminders | Boomerang for Gmail Better Gmail and Evernote Integration with Powerbot Flow | Online Task Management and Team Collaboration Software Online Gantt Chart - Web Based Gantt Chart || TeamGantt Follow David on Twitter Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net This episode is brought to you by: Squarespace, the secret behind exceptional websites. Go to squarespace.com/70decibels to start your free trial and use the offer code '70decibels6' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Subscribe in iTunes

This week “The Mikes” are joined by Nick Wynja of Hack/Make to talk about the role of design. At a time where most are nitpicking aspects of Apple’s latest design choices, it seemed like a good time to take a step back and look at the role that design plays in the applications we use as well as our work and lives. Schechter also gets into a semantic argument with Nick about the difference between “by design” and “the design” (you know, as he does). What Mikes Are Drinking Nick Wynja - 90 Minute IPA | Dogfish Head Brewery Michael Schechter - Hop Savant | Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project Mike Vardy - Said the Ale | Townsite Brewing Links Typist and Technologist | Nick Wynja Hack / Make Apple - iOS 7 Clear For iPhone and Mac Vesper. Collect your thoughts. Design is a Job | Mike Monteiro Follow Nick on Twitter or App.net Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net This episode is brought to you by: Squarespace, the secret behind exceptional websites. Go to squarespace.com/70decibels to start your free trial and use the offer code '70decibels6' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Subscribe in iTunes

“The Mikes” are joined once again by Julien Smith to discuss his new project, Breather and to revisit their previous conversation on zooming in and out. Links Breather - Peace & quiet, on-demand Mikes On Mics - Episode 39: Zooming Out with Julien Smith The Flinch: Julien Smith: Amazon.com: Kindle Store What is Breather? On The Media: ‘Who’s Gonna Pay for This Stuff?’ | Shawn Blanc Follow Schechter on Twitter Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net This episode is brought to you by: Squarespace, the secret behind exceptional websites. Go to squarespace.com/70decibels to start your free trial and use the offer code '70decibels6' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Subscribe in iTunes

This week The Mikes fly “duo” once again, and discuss the breaking down, picking, and prioritizing of their projects. As expected, each have different approaches. What Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Hopnotist Imperial IPA | Parallel 49 Brewing Co. Michael Schechter - Earl Grey IPA | Marble Brewery Links Turning Tasks Into Projects in OmniFocus | Workflowing GTD Weekly Review® | David Allen Company Unstuck | iPad app EISENHOWER | The urgent-important matrix for time management fans Ideas and Agreements | patrickrhone / journal Killing Ideas | Productivityist Checkmark | Snowman Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net This episode is brought to you by Squarespace, the secret behind exceptional websites. Go to squarespace.com/70decibels to start your free trial and use the offer code '70decibels6' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Subscribe in iTunes

“The Mikes” discuss a recent episode of the Enough podcast where Patrick Rhone and Myke Hurley examine a common obsession with the app choices of others. Schechter and Vardy share why they feel the apps can often matter as much as the actions they seek to help us achieve. What Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Parallel 49 Brewing Co. – Hopnotist Imperial IPA Michael Schechter - Earl Grey IPA | Marble Brewery Links Enough - Ep 203 - Actions Not Apps Patrick Rhone | A Trusted System The App Choices of Others Back to Work #82: Blue Food in Your Refrigerator enough by Patrick Rhone Manage Your Day-to-Day by Jocelyn K. Glei, Scott Belsky and others Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net This episode is brought to you by: Squarespace, the secret behind exceptional websites. Go to squarespace.com/70decibels to start your free trial and use the offer code '70decibels5' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Subscribe in iTunes

“The Mikes” are joined by Dave Morris to examine the ways that improvisation can improve the way you approach your work and life. What The Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Belle Royale « Driftwood Brewery Michael Schechter - Low Life - Evil Twin Brewing Dave Morris - Spicebox Whisky and Coke Zero Links TEDxVictoria - Dave Morris: The Way of Improvisation - YouTube The Way of Improvisation Trust Us, This Is All Made Up Radiolab Presents: TJ & Dave - Radiolab Follow Dave on Twitter Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net This episode is brought to you by: Squarespace, the secret behind exceptional websites. Go to squarespace.com/70decibels to start your free trial and use the offer code '70decibels5' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Subscribe in iTunes

“The Mikes” are joined by Pat Dryburgh to discuss his Hundred Down experiment and the stress that comes along with attempting to make a change. What Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Smoke & Mirrors – Imperial Smoked Ale « Coal Harbour Brewing Michael Schechter - Steam Whistle Brewing - Canada’s Premium Pilsner Pat Dryburgh - Patrón Silver Tequila Links Workflowing — Do Better BQ&A: Pat Dryburgh on Design, Development, Health, and Music — BitQuill Enough - Ep 189 - The Rhone Internet Protocol Why Mailbox Won’t Fix Your Email — The Brooks Review Triage - Email First Aid Mikes On Mics - Episode 53: A Productive Argument with Matt Alexander xkcd: ADD The Paleo Diet | Dr. Loren Cordain, Founder of the Paleo Diet Movement Always-on video messaging for your home | Perch The Donut | Pat Dryburgh Follow Pat on Twitter or App.net Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net This episode is brought to you by: Squarespace, the secret behind exceptional websites. Go to squarespace.com/70decibels to start your free trial and use the offer code '70decibels5' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Subscribe in iTunes

“The Mikes” are joined by Dave Caolo of 52 Tiger and Home Work fame for a conversation on the best ways to use paper (remember that stuff?) to get things done. As with most analog technologies, Schechter struggles to make the most of notebooks and other popular paper products in his everyday productivity, so Vardy and Caolo take him to school. Towards the end, all three take a step back from the “how-to” aspects of paper to talk about the role of analog tools in an increasingly digital world. What Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Vintage Ale is a bottle conditioned beer brewed with the year’s finest malt and hops Michael Schechter - Nebuchadnezzar - Omnipollo - Stockholm, Sweden - BeerAdvocate Dave Caolo - Ruthless Rye | Sierra Nevada Links The Pen Addict Word Notebooks The Dash/Plus System from Patrick Rhone Notes: The Power of Paper — Productivityist Getting Things Done by David Allen Frictionless Capture Card Drafts - Agile Tortoise The Emergent Task Planner | David Seah Mikes On Mics - Episode 59: Drafting with Greg Pierce How I Use Sketchnotes for Task Management — Productivityist Mikes On Mics - Episode 57: Everyday Sketchnoting with Mike Rohde Evernote Smart Notebook The Capture Form — 512 Pixels A Better Approach To Meeting Notes Generational - 005 - The Future of Books GTD :: Paper Planners and Pads TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net This episode is brought to you by Squarespace, the secret behind exceptional websites. Start your free trial today and use the offer code ‘70decibels5’ at checkout to get 10% off your first order. This episode is also brought to you by Jorte Calendar, your personal Organizer. Jorte is a free app available today for Android, iOS, and Kindle Fire. Click here to find out more.

"The Mikes" are joined by Patrick Rhone to take a behind the scenes look at the the launch of his So You Want To Be A Mac Consultant Now... ebook. In less than one week, Patrick took what started as a question on App.net about an old blog post, began updating the piece and turned it into the first ever Minimal Guide. Wondering how a question on a social network led to a living blog post which turned into to an premium ebook that is still being updated as this episode goes live? Schechter and Vardy were too, and thankfully Patrick was more than happy to share his experience. Want a Free App.net Invite? Speaking of App.net the team at App.net were kind enough to provide 200 invites to the free tier of ADN accounts especially for listeners of Mikes on Mics. If you're yet to give the service a try, both Vardy and Schechter (as well as Patrick) are big fans of this social network. The invites are first come, first serve. Get yours here. Links So You Wanna Be A Mac Consultant Now… | Patrick Rhone On Writing A Minimal Guide | Patrick Rhone Enough - Ep 198 - Turn The Key Save Money Now — Sweating Commas Smarter Than I Am... | The desire to enter a market does not grant you... Gumroad Draft. Write Better. Scrivener Writing Software | Mac OS X | Windows Follow Patrick on Twitter or App.net Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net This episode is brought to you by: Squarespace, the secret behind exceptional websites. Go to squarespace.com/70decibels to start your free trial and use the offer code '70decibels4' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Subscribe in iTunes

“The Mikes” are joined by author and experimenter extraordinaire A. J. Jacobs. A.J. writes for Esquire and is the author of books like Drop Dead Healthy and My Life as an Experiment. Vardy and A.J. swap tales of their own experiments while Schechter asks about the smaller impact of big experiments. They also discuss how A.J. doesn’t sleep with his wife… so you’re not going to want to miss this episode. What Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Writers Tears Whiskey Michael Schechter - Lagunitas Sucks | Lagunitas Brewing Company A.J. Jacobs - Zywiec Links The Front Nine — MIKEVARDY.COM A. J. Jacobs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Drop Dead Healthy by A. J. Jacobs My Life as an Experiment by A. J. Jacobs The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs A.J. Jacobs for Esquire Nine Weeks with a Camera - AJ Jacobs I Am a Camera - Esquire Mikes On Mics - Episode 11: An Unfocused Look at Focus Michael Schechter’s Writer Workflow Day One | A simple Journal for iPhone, iPad and Mac App Store A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words | Productivityist Home Work Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net Follow A.J. on Twitter This episode is brought to you by: Squarespace, the secret behind exceptional websites. Go to squarespace.com/70decibels to start your free trial and use the offer code '70decibels4' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Download Subscribe in iTunes

“The Mikes” are joined by Brian Thompson of Thorny Bleeder to talk about the shift of creators taking control of their own art and careers. Brian’s site focuses on helping musicians take command of their career. The conversation starts on the space, but grows into the way that people can work to ensure the success of their own creations. Schechter, Vardy and Brian discuss the challenges that come along with balancing the creating along everything else involved in helping those creations find an audience. Note: We ran into a little Skype trouble, but hope you’ll agree the conversation is worth the occasional quality drop. Schechter was also wrong, KBS is indeed a breakfast stout. What Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Bright Ale | Little Creatures Michael Schechter - KBS | Our Beers | Founders Brewing Co. Brian Thompson - Green Tea Links Enough - Ep 197 - Reach For The Stars And Expect Nothing Enough - Ep 196 - Luddite In Training Amanda Palmer: The art of asking | Video on TED.com CMD+SPACE - 028 - Technology and Music, with John Roderick Stageit | A front row seat to a backstage experience.™ PledgeMusic Alex Day Art of Dying // News Mikes On Mics - Episode 51: How To Get An Interview With Jonathan Coulton MC Frontalot :: Nerdcore Headquarters Girl Talk Mikes On Mics - Episode 59: Drafting with Greg Pierce Phoster - Make your Own Poster Thorny Bleeder: Music Marketing, Branding & Motivation for the DIY Independent Musician. Over Social Media Camp | May 6–8, 2013 in Victoria BC | Keynote Speaker: Mari Smith Follow Brian on Twitter Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net This episode is brought to you by: Squarespace, the secret behind exceptional websites. Go to squarespace.com/70decibels to start your free trial and use the offer code '70decibels4' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Download

"The Mikes" are joined by Kourosh Dini of Using OmniFocus and Thanh Pham of Asian Efficiency to talk about their mutual interest and obsession with the topic of productivity. All four share what led them to the topic, how they go about doing things and how this informs the way they talk about talking about doing things. Beyond their own interest in the subject, Schechter, Vardy, Dini and Pham all discuss the current state of the productivity space by examining where it helps (and when it hurts) those who turn to it. Note: After the episode, "The Mikes", Kourosh and Thanh all geek out about OmniFocus 2. You can get ahold of this conversation by subscribing to the Mike Techniques newsletter. What Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Creme Brulee Vanilla Stout - Gulf Islands Brewing - Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada - BeerAdvocate Michael Schechter - Evil Twin Femme Fatale Blanc Kourosh and Thanh both drank tea (not that "The Mikes" are judging...) Links OmniFocus Premium Posts by Asian Efficiency Ebook | Using OmniFocus David Allen, Getting Things Done® and GTD® Amazon.com: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (9780142000281): David Allen: Books ADHD to GTD | A Better Mess Mikes On Mics - Episode 37: Getting To GTD with David Allen Tony Schwartz Dr. Stephen R. Covey Bit Literacy by Mark Hurst How I Use Evernote for Beer Cellaring | Productivityist Stick Lettuce on the Bottom of Your Burger to Protect the Bun from the Juices What the #%$! Happened to Lifehacker? | Productivityist Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip Heath, Dan Heath 70Decibels - Mikes On Mics - Episode 53: A Productive Argument with Matt Alexander Follow Kourosh on Twitter Follow Thanh on Twitter or App.net Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net This episode is brought to you by: Squarespace, the secret behind exceptional websites. Go to

This week we keep the guests away because Vardy is still getting over his illness. Actually, that comes into play with our theme – which is being sick and tired – mainly due to overwhelm or generally being busy. The Mikes talk about how their systems help them through those times (and how they don’t), what each of them do to push them through those circumstances, and other ideas that they (and you) can implement to get things done even when you really aren’t at 100 percent. What The Mikes Are Drinking XXX Black Double IPA | Midnight Sun Brewing Company Cabin Fever | Phillips Beer Links How I Use Evernote for Beer Cellaring | Productivityist.com There’s Black Ops On The Horizon | Brooklyn Brewery Mike Techniques My Daily Routine | Productivityist.com Don’t Break The Chain! Nike+ Path Productive Meal Planning with Basil and OmniFocus | Productivityist.com Episode 45: Producing Through Procrastination with Brett Terpstra Episode 45.5: More Procrastination with Brett Terpstra A Fresh Take on Contexts | SimplicityBliss Bending the stiffest arrow | Practically Efficient My OmniFocus Setup | A Better Mess Saying No Is Actually Saying Yes To Other Things | enough AwayFind Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net This episode is brought to you by: Squarespace, the secret behind exceptional websites. Go to squarespace.com/70decibels to start your free trial and use the offer code '70decibels3' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Subscribe in iTunes

“The Mikes” are joined by Brad Dowdy of The Pen Addict website and podcast. While the conversation starts out talking about Vardy and Brad’s respective pen addictions, Schechter quickly attempts to shift to the larger topic of passions and obsessions. Schechter, Vardy and Brad discuss the online prevalence of their passions and compare it with their offline lives. Pen Addicts (like Brad and Vardy) and those who couldn’t care less (like Schechter) stand to benefit from a conversation on what you care about, how many things you can care about and the things you can’t care about in order to make your passions matter even more. What Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Imperial IPA for Autism - Michael Schechter - Stone Enjoy By IPA Links The Pen Addict The Pen Addict Podcast JetPens.com - Japanese Pens and Stationery Macdrifter General Store Multi-Penmanship Flickr: dowdyism’s Photostream Pilot Hi-Tec-C 0.4 One Pen - Black Pilot G2 Gel Ink Roller Ball Pens, 2-Pack, Blue (31032) Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Me 4 Color Multi Pen Body Component - White Uni Kurutoga Pencil 0.5mm Orange Premier Pen - machine milled aluminium pens than celebrate simplicity Rhodia Dot Pad Black 6 x 8.25 Notebook - R16559 Maruman Mnemosyne Special Memo Notepad - A5 (5.8“ X 8.3”) - 7 mm Rule Divisions - 24 Lines X 80 Sheets Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net Follow Brad on Twitter or App.net This episode is brought to you by: Squarespace, the secret behind exceptional websites. Go to squarespace.com/70decibels to start your free trial and use the offer code '70decibels3' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Download Subscribe in iTunes