Mikes on Mics

This week "The Mikes" are joined by Greg Pierce, the founder of Agile Tortoise, creator of several fine apps, including Drafts. Greg shares the motivation behind the app, sheds light on many of its latest features, and shares some best practices when using the app. Vardy throws Schechter under the bus by sharing the fact that he is not a Drafts user (which wasn't awkward at all). Note: There was a slight delay on the call which accounts for Schechter talking over people. Well, it accounts for Schechter talking over people more than usual anyhow... What Mikes (and Greg) Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Driftwood Twenty Pounder Double IPA - 94 at RateBeer Michael Schechter - Slumbrew Snow Angel - Somerville Brewing Company (Slumbrew) - Somerville, MA - BeerAdvocate Greg Pierce - Oskar Blues | Dales Pale Ale - Oskar Blues Links Agile Tortoise Drafts - Agile Tortoise Phraseology - Agile Tortoise Terminology - Agile Tortoise Mikes On Mics - Episode 55: Checking The Mailbox with Gentry Underwood Drafts: A Truly Indispenable iOS App | Productivityist.com Drafts, Threadnote and Corrections | A Better Mess Drafts, Pop and Intention | A Better Mess Speeding Up OmniFocus on iOS with Launch Center Pro | A Better Mess Keyboard Maestro 5.3.2: Work Faster with Macros for Mac OS X x-callback-url Federico Viticci's iOS Automation and Workflows with Drafts | Macstories Gabe Weatherhead - Macdrifter Brett Terpstra David Sparks - MacSparky Alfred App - Productivity App for Mac OS X LaunchBar 5 Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net Follow Greg 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 Aaron Mahnke of Frictionless, Read & Trust and just about every other website on the internet to talk about side projects. Join Schechter, Vardy and Mahnke for a candid conversation on balancing their work, their families and their projects. What Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Unibroue 17 Michael Schechter - Lagunitas Sucks | Lagunitas Brewing Company Aaron Mahnke - Innis & Gunn Rum Finish | Craft Beer Born in Edinburgh, Scotland Links Frictionless Tools | Capture Cards and Pads AaronMahnke.com | Designer • Writer • Podcaster Wet Frog Studios Frictionless Books Home Work Aaron’s Podcast on 70 Decibels The Front Nine — MIKEVARDY.COM The Ready Retreat Series — MIKEVARDY.COM Subscribe to Mike Techniques A Better Mess: Productivity, Geekery and Struggle with Michael Schechter Productivityist.com - the blog for productivity enthusiasts 70Decibels - Mikes On Mics Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry National Novel Writing Month The OmniFocus Setup - Schechter’s talk is now live! I Am A Writer - Vardy’s guest post for A Better Mess Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net Follow Aaron 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

"The Mikes" are joined by Mike Rohde of The Sketchnote Handbook on taking advantage of visual note taking in everyday situations. Schechter discusses his enjoyment of Sketchnotes despite his total inability to draw while Vardy flaunts his creative skills, all while Mike Rohde offers sage advice on all of the ways you can take advantage of his unique approach to capturing what matters most in your notes. What Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Smoke & Mirrors – Imperial Smoked Ale « Coal Harbour Brewing Michael Schechter - Sixpoint | Beers | 3BEANS Mike Rohde - Nespresso Links Rohdesign - Designer Mike Rohde Sketchnote Army - A Showcase of Sketchnotes The Sketchnote Handbook Video Edition by Mike Rohde 70Decibels - CMD+SPACE - 019 - Sketchnotes and Fantastical, with Mike Rohde and Michael Simmons 70Decibels - The Pen Addict - Episode 17 - Sketchnoting With Mike Rohde Rework: Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau Alaskan Cruise '09 Sketchnotes - Rohdesign - Designer Mike Rohde Hog Bay Software Wiki — TaskPaperArticles A Better Approach To Meeting Notes The Sketchnote Podcast | Peachpit Flickr: Mike Rohde's Photostream Dear Colleague, Put the Notebook Down - Alexandra Samuel - Harvard Business Review Adonit Jot Pro Stylus Pen for iPad, iPhone, iPod, Kindle Fire and Other Touch Screen Tablets Mac Power Users #120: Taking Notes with Mike Rohde Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net Follow Mike Rohde 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 Jason Rehmus of Sweating Commas for a conversation about making the most out of feedback. While not always the easiest thing to hear, getting - and more importantly embracing - candid feedback on your work from a trusted source is one of the most essential tools for improving your work. Before wrapping up they also touch on a concept that Jason talked about when he was a guest on Patrick Rhone and Myke Hurley's Enough: creating a business that is not made to scale. What Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Angels Envy Michael Schechter - Fat Tug IPA Jason Rehmus - Bookers Bourbon Links Cleaning Up A Better Mess - Jason's guest post for A Better Mess My OmniFocus Setup - Jason's first edit for A Better Mess Bridging the Nerd Gap by Brett Kelly Feast on Feedback | A Better Mess Frictionless by Aaron Mahnke World Domination Summit First Today, Then Tomorrow by Randy Murray Mule Design Studio Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net Follow Jason 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 Gentry Underwood, CEO and co-founder of Orchestra, the company behind Mailbox. For the one geek who doesn’t know, Mailbox is a new email application that looks to rethink the way we approach our inbox. The response to Mailbox has been overwhelming. At the time of recording nearly 800,000 people were waiting to get access. Gentry talks about the inspiration behind the application, possible directions for the future and offers candid insights into the need for their unconventional rollout. Note: This episode was recorded prior to some downtime for the new service on February 14th. What Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Parallel 49 Vow Of Silence Belgian Strong Ale Michael Schechter - The Perfect Crime Hollow Point - 82 at RateBeer Gentry Underwood - Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 23yr | Old Rip Van Winkle Links Mailbox - Put Email In Its Place Orchestra To-do Mailbox: The Band-Aid for Email | Productivityist.com App Cubby • Hand Crafted iPhone Apps - Launch Center Drafts - Agile Tortoise OmniFocus for Mac - The Omni Group To-Do Lists Made Breathtakingly Simple - Clear For iPhone and Mac Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net Follow Gentry 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 '70decibels2' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Download Subscribe in iTunes

“The Mikes” share some of the mistakes made and lessons learned through their online endeavors. Vardy describes the challenges of balancing writing what you’re passionate about vs. what pays the bills while Schechter talks about his god-given gift for shoving his foot (or keyboard) in his rather large mouth. What Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Singularity Russian Imperial Stout « Driftwood Brewery Michael Schechter - St. Botolph’s Town | Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project, Inc. Links Macdrifter Eventualism — Productivity Punditry Personified. And Parodied. NeuYear.net — Welcome Store - Productivityist Time to Say Goodbye The OmniFocus Setup patrickrhone / journal 5 Lessons From Blogging 5 Days A Week For A Year A Year Of Blogging By The Numbers Danny Brown - Social Media and Marketing Blog Goodbye Me, Hello Mess What Highlighter Colours Actually Mean Exit Vardy.me. Enter Productivityist.com! 70Decibels - Mikes On Mics - Episode 35: So Good They Can’t Ignore Us with Cal Newport What the #%$! Happened to Lifehacker? Brand Bullying: A Tale of Ragu by @mschechter | Spin Sucks Follow Schechter and Vardy 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 '70decibels2' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Subscribe in iTunes

“The Mikes” are joined by Matt Alexander of OneThirtySeven and the Bionic podcast podcast for a bit of back and forth about productivity immediately following The OmniFocus Setup. Note: This was recorded live at Macworld at a coffee shop, so please forgive the audio, especially the coffee grinding during the intro. Links Talking Productivity Drafts: A Truly Indispensable iOS App Follow Matt, Schechter and Vardy on Twitter. Download Subscribe in iTunes

"The Mikes" celebrate a year of Mikes on Mics by tearing the year's worth of hard work that went into it to shreds. Regular weekly and monthly reviews are helpful tools, but there's nothing quite like taking an annual, thorough look at the projects you love. With this mind, Vardy and Schechter discuss what's gone right, what's gone wrong and what's about to get better as their collaboration hits the one year mark. P.S. Thank you all so very, very much for putting up with us for this long! - Schechter and Vardy What Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Parallel 49 Barrel Aged Series Russian Imperial Stout Michael Schechter - Steam Whistle Brewing - Canada's Premium Pilsner Links Subscribe to Mike Techniques 70Decibels - Contact Episode 51: How To Get An Interview With Jonathan Coulton Episode 41: Passions On Tap with Marina Arnaout CMD+SPACE with Myke Hurley Wet Frog Studios - Aaron Mahnke's Design Studio Systematic #24: Merry Textmas with Jesse Grosjean 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 '70decibels1' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Subscribe in iTunes

This weeks “The Mikes” are joined by internet superstar, humorist, singer, songwriter and all around rock god, Jonathan Coulton for a conversation about making a career out of your creativity. Vardy shows just how far he is willing to go in order to book a guest for your listening entertainment while Schechter does his best to play it cool. In this action-packed episode, “The Mikes” get Jonathan to share a bit about Thing A Week, One Christmas at a Time, JoCo Cruise Crazy, the little girl who inspired You Ruined Everything and the building of the JoCo empire. Links Jonathan Coulton JoCo: A Thank You Letter to Jonathan Coulton | Productivityist.com One Christmas at a Time | Jonathan Coulton and John Roderick Thing A Week | Jonathan Coulton JONATHAN COULTON and JOHN HODGMAN: TONIGHT YOU - YouTube John Hodgman - JoCopedia, the Jonathan Coulton wiki Jonathan Coulton and John Roderick - Nemesis - Schechter’s live iPhone recording from the City Winery show mentioned in the episode Follow Jonathan, Schechter and Vardy 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 '70decibels1' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Download Subscribe in iTunes

"The Mikes" have a solo conversation about confidence, specifically Vardy's tendency to have it and Schechter's tendency to not. This is an older episode that we never released. As we come up to our year anniversary, we thought it was time to let it see the light of day. In this time: Justin Lancy left the country ("The Mikes" miss you) Schechter never wrote the article he touches on in the episode (guess he got it all out here) Schechter has become far more disparaging towards Vardy Despite its age, this episode is not so different from what we normally do now Apple Maps still suck What Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Select Reserve | The Glenrothes Michael Schechter - White Bark Witbier « Driftwood Brewery Links Episode 11: An Unfocused Look at Focus You Suck | A Better Mess World Domination Summit The Best Speech I Ever Gave | Chris Brogan Episode 38: Making an Impact with Chris Brogan Episode 46: Kickstarting Your Year with Craig Jarrow A Return to OmniFocus | Productivityist.com You Have To Suck First | Better Mess The Gradual Death of Eventualism | Productivityist.com 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 '70decibels1' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Subscribe in iTunes

“The Mikes” are joined by Shawn Blanc for a conversation about intentional living. Shawn shares several the ways that intention impacts the way he approaches his work and how this helped him take his site, ShawnBlanc.net, full time. Schechter asks Shawn how the unintentional amongst us (not that Schechter knows anyone who can be a bit unintentional) can get started while Vardy asks how the unpredictable joy that is a newborn child can impact an intentional approach to life. Links Become a Subscribing Member — Shawn Blanc International House of Prayer Aaron Mahnke | Wet Frog Studios 5by5 | The B&B Podcast Follow Shawn on Twitter or App.net Follow Schechter on Twitter or App.net Follow Vardy on Twitter or App.net Download Subscribe in iTunes

“The Mikes” take a moment at the end of 2012 to talk about year end rituals. Vardy shares how he uses the year end to plot out the upcoming year while Schechter talks about his new attempt at holiday cleaning. “The Mikes” also share their favorite things of 2012 and share what they hope to see in 2013. A big thanks to everyone who spent time with “The Mikes” in 2012. Here’s to a productive and prosperous 2013! Speaking of a prosperous 2013, Vardy’s first book, The Front Nine: How to Start the Year You Want Anytime You Want is now out! Please consider checking it out. Note: We’re gong to be changing up the way we record our episodes in 2013 to improve audio quality… so, in other words, sorry for the Skype issues on Schechter’s end… What Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Sodastream Cherry Cola Michael Schechter - Uber Pils | Blue Mountain Barrel House Beers Links Three words for 2012 | A Better Mess My 3 Words for 2012 | Chris Brogan Mitigating My Mitigating | A Better Mess Mikes On Mics - Episode 30: Getting Down To Business with Andrew Carroll Have a CrashPlan | A Better Mess Cloze Easilydo Crap I Don’t Regret Buying This Year Amazon.com: The 4x6" Emergent Task Planner StickyPad (2 pack) How to Use 30/30 Like The Emergent Task Planner Asana - Task Management for Teams Day One | A simple Journal for iPhone, iPad and Mac App Store Daring Fireball: Markdown The Journey to Markdown Join the Movement - App.net So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport My Minutes | The personal time tracking app for your iPhone Putting Contexts Into Perspective | A Better Mess 70Decibels - Donate Follow Schechter and Vardy 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 '70decibels12' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Download

“The Mikes” are joined by Ken Case, CEO of the Omni Group for a chat about OmniFocus and the upcoming release of OmniFocus 2.0. Schechter and Vardy are both long time and dedicated users, so needless to say, they were excited to talk about all things OmniFocus with the man at the top. Vardy is even going to be a part of the fancy and upcoming OmniFocus Setup panel (not that Schechter’s jealous… nope, he’s super happy for his friend and podcasting cohort… no anger, sadness or bitterness at all… Schechter’s not a petty man… not even a little), so if you’re planning on attending Macworld, you are not going to want to miss it. In the meantime, enjoy some insights into one of the “The Mikes” favorite productivity tools. Links Now accepting beta volunteers for the OmniFocus Mail Drop feature iPad or Bust! - Blog - The Omni Group Turn Everything Into Something With OmniFocus How to get all of your crap into OmniFocus All the Focus on OmniFocus Download the free OmniFocus plugin - Mailplane OmniFocus Screencasts — MacSparky Let’s Meet for The OmniFocus Setup at Macworld — SimplicityBliss Putting Contexts Into Perspective The Potential of Pomodorable Follow Ken, Schechter and Vardy 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 '70decibels12' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Download Subscribe in iTunes

“The Mikes” are joined by the Time Management Ninja himself, Mr. Craig Jarrow. Craig recently partnered with Vardy for their now released project, Kickstart the Year. Schechter grills Craig and Vardy on the tools and tactics they used to turn their concept into a reality. A reality you should seriously consider buying, especially if you’re looking to have a more successful 2013. Note: Considering Vardy is one of the two minds behind Kickstart the Year, there will be a tiny bit of shameless self-promotion in this episode. What Mikes Are Drinking Mike Vardy - Michael Schechter - Sleepytime® Herbal Tea and DayQuil Craig Jarrow - Cîroc & Lemonade with CÎROC® Vodka Links Asana - Task Management for Teams Jamie Tardy Eventual Millionaire | Real Millionaires. Real Stories. Real Business Wisdom. Chris Brogan — Building the Digital Channel - Beyond Social Media Jeff Goins, Writer: On Writing, Ideas, and Making a Difference Glassboard: Know who you’re sharing with. Follow Craig, Schechter and Vardy 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 '70decibels12' at checkout to get 10% off your first order. Subscribe in iTunes

Schechter wasn’t quite pleased with his performance in the productivity episode with Brett Terpstra, so the second the episode ended, he just decided to keep things going. “The Mikes” thought you might enjoy this follow up conversation with Brett, or just be looking for a good distraction from something you should really be doing… either way, enjoy! Follow Brett, Schechter and Vardy on Twitter. Subscribe in iTunes