Productive Catholic Podcast

What’s up Productive Catholic people? I am super excited to present you with the next podcast episode. It’s been about two weeks since the last podcast and there is good reason for that. I promise that will get back on to the weekly schedule as soon as possible. In this episode we have two really […]

Don’t think that you have something to share that could potentially bring a lot of eyes and ears to your website?  Think again… In this episode Devin shares how he took one of his major pains (literally) and turned it into an opportunity to market his new blog in a major way. It all started […]

In this episode, Katie Rose from Style Moms asks a great question about dropshipping and how to go about finding a women’s apparel dropshipper that will also allow her to put her own private label on the product.  There are a number of options that are available, but one of the big issues with drop […]

In this episode I had the great pleasure of interviewing an amazing Catholic author, Brandon Vogt.  Brandon is the author of the blog The Thin Veil and of the book The Church and New Media. As you can guess, the majority of what we talk about in this episode is how Catholics can use social media to reach and evangelize a much larger community than they ever could before.  Not only that, parishes and ministries can communicate with their members in a much more effective and meaningful way. Although there is a lot of fear and mistrust of social media among Catholics, Brandon shows us that it is just a tool that can be either used for good or for evil depending on how you choose to use it!

In this episode we welcome back an old friend, JR Duboc, and really have fun in this podcast. Hopefully we'll continue to have him on regularly. We talk about some of the productivity apps that we each use. JR introduces me to Diigo, a web-based application that lets you keep track of things that you find all over the Internet. He also shares his prized productivity tool called Task Coach, which let's him stay organized while doing his doctorate studies. Both apps are free and pretty awesome! In my neck of the woods, I share the tool that has been keeping me productive and sane for the past few week called Action Enforcer (affiliate link). I love this tool because of it's ability to keep you on one task and racing against the clock! Unfortuantely it is not free, but is well worth the money. I'll be doing some tutorial vids using it soon.

In this episode we talk about why as Catholics we don't always have to be doing  something in order to be productive.  In fact, sometimes it's better to do nothing and pray to Christ and Our Lady than to constantly feel as though we have to create things, do work, or start something new could actually be harmful to our well-being. While I usually don't get this touchy feely in podcasts, I definitely feel as though this is one of the most important posts that I've done - most of all because I need to hear it over and over again.  God is in control, and he is the main provider for you and your family.  Honor Him, worship Him, and all other things will be given to you. Easier said than done....  I know.

One of the hottest trends to hit the corporate world in the last 50 years was the ability to "Multi-Task." Unfortunately, as time goes by, we have started to see how this sort of thinking and productivity system is hardly as effective as we thought it was.  Multi-tasking ends up permeating our entire lives and keeps us from enjoying and focusing on the things that God wants us to focus on. Single-tasking, aside from making you more productive, helps you to see things in a greater perspective and to provide better quality in what you do.  One method that we discuss in this episode is the Pomodoro Method.  This technique helps you to maintain focus on a single task while still seeing the big picture of what you need to get done during the day. Being Productive Vs. Being Busy Following on the topic of single-tasking, we talk about the difference between being productive and being busy.  Often we mistake being busy for being productive.  We are drowning in things that we need to do on a daily basis, but in actuality those things don't add value, they just keep us afloat. Being productive means that you are creating something of value.  You are "producing" something that will benefit you or someone else.  In order to do that you need to take the time to create something.  As a Catholic, it is not enough to be busy.  Remember what Jesus said to busy Martha?

In this episode we talk with Brian Pedone, an amazing Catholic Entrepreneur, Boxer, and computer science whiz. He is the creator of AreYouCatholic.com, a fantasic online application that helps ordinary Catholic folks and parishes keep track of all of the good deeds they have done in hopes of inspiring others to do the same. As an entrepreneur, Brian builds websites for clients and also owns and operates a boxing gym that helps troubled youth to get back on track and white collar Americans to get fit.  Brian Pedone has really synthesized his Catholic faith with his extremely productive entrepreneurial ventures.  If you want to find out more, visit any of his sites to see some of the amazing things that he's doing!

To leave feedback, or ask a question, please send me a voicemail at 714-643-5301. You can also subscribe to the podcast in iTunes! In this episode I have the great honor of interviewing Devin Rose, an apologist and author of the book If Protestantism Is True. He talks about his journey, how he wrote and published his own book, and how he used the power of social media and blogging to make the book a success. The most amazing thing about his story is that he shares how anyone can do what he did because of the opportunities that the Internet revolution has brought. Rather than depending on publishing companies, most of which turned down his book, with a little creativity and focus, he was able to fulfill his dream and impact hundreds of people. If you want to learn more about Devin and his mission, or to buy his book, Check out his blog St. Joesph's Vanguard!

I recently got to speak at a conference in Silicon Valley about mobile applications and trends.  It was an amazing experience and I got to meet some great people.  However, it got me thinking about how we as Catholics communicate with the world and whether a Catholic can embrace social networking in order to make an impact on other people's lives. In this podcast, I talk about how the whole reason that I was invited to speak in front of 150+ people who included representatives from Microsoft, HP, Mozilla, and others is because of social networking.  I believe that this resource is amazingly untapped by Catholics and that needs to change right away.  However, it's not just about getting on these social networks but about engaging and meeting people in real-life that you meet through these channels. Authentic Catholicism is very hard to turn down - and only authenticity thrives on these social networking platforms.  That being said, when we start talking to people in the manner that they prefer and add value to their lives, we will see that utilizing these tools and meeting new people could potentially change the face of the entire world.

To leave feedback, or ask a question, please send me a voicemail at 714-643-5301.  You can also subscribe to the podcast in iTunes! Hey Everyone!  In this episode we talk about how it's not just enough to find a productivity method that you can just check off tasks with.  When we check off tasks it's reactive, and the last thing that we want is to be reactive.  True productivity is about being proactive and about shipping a product (as Seth Godin says).  The more that you create, the more that you produce, the more productive that you are.

To leave feedback, or ask a question, please send me a voicemail at 714-643-5301.  You can also subscribe to the podcast in iTunes! In this episode we talk about how to create a schedule that fall's in line with what God has willed for your life. Dr. John Yzaguirre, an amazing Catholic psychologist, is all about putting things in their right place.  His trademark schedule for segmenting the 7 areas in your daily life is a  life-changer and has helped me and thousands of others to live thriving lives and have thriving marriages. We talk about setting up the Seven Rooms In Your House of Self and how to set up your day and week to serve God and others.  While it may sound a bit daunting, it is actually very simple to do. Your House of Self falls into these 7 areas: Family Friends Work God Community Health Education When you focus on each of these, one-at-a-time, you will not only be more productive, you will also grow in love for God and for others.  It's a great way to learn the holy art of single-tasking (as opposed to the impossible farce of multi-tasking), and will teach you to trust God more with those things that are out of your control Premium Content Thank you all so much for the support of some of the premium content that I am making.  I really appreciate it!  As the premium section grows, there will be a lot more content that focuses on business, productivity, and other things that will help to live a more abundant life.  I'll also be adding templates, checklists, and webinars in the near future!  Let me know what you'd like to see and I'll make it happen. :)

To leave feedback, or ask a question, please send me a voicemail at 714-643-5301.  You can also subscribe to the podcast in iTunes! In this episode I talk about productivity templates that I use from a guy by the name of David Seah.  The great thing about the templates and the things that make them different is that they are focused mainly on taking care of only the most important things that you should be working on. As a business owner, one of the most important things that you can do is to not let yourself get bogged down in the day-to-day operations of the business.  Of course, you need to know what's going on, but you shouldn't be the one doing the work.  The productivity templates that David has helps you to live this out. The templates are point-based, and fun little tools that itemize the most important tasks that you should be doing on a daily basis and helps to quantify how well you are doing them. Personally, I have used his Concrete Goals Tracker for a while now and it has helped me tremendously to get my business off of the ground.  So I hope that you enjoy the templates and that they help you to meet the goals that you have set out. Habits I also talk about habits (not priestly habits), and how in order to have a working productivity system you need to develop the habits of actually using it.  It helps to have a system that you can access anywhere, but as long as you start writing things down and getting into the habit of keeping track of tasks, you'll start to see yourself becoming more productive as time goes by! Business Consulting: I’m available for one-on-one business consulting.  If you have a business and want to find ways to lower your expenses and maximize revenue with a virtual assistant or other technology, or if you are looking to start a business from scratch, I’d love to work with you.  You can email me at dean@prosulum.com, or give me a call at 714-868-6745.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  You can leave us voicemail feedback on our feedback line at 714-643-5301 In this episode, Jared Dees from The Religion Teacher and also from Prayer Habits asks a question about what project management he should use when building websites for local Catholic schools?  I mention that although I have bounced around from tool to tool, I always seem to come right back to Basecamp.  Basecamp is just easier than any other project management tool that I've used, yet it's still powerful for a number of reasons. The first reason is that it's easy to use as a project manager.  The faster I can add tasks in an orderly fashion, the easier it is for me to manage multiple people.  Basecamp is makes that happen. The second reason is that all of my virtual assistants love it and use it.  I was using other systems for a while but they were just a pain and my VAs rarely ever used them because of how un-friendly the software was. Lastly, my customers love is and use it. It let's my clients see what's going on and interact.  This is super important with Catholic parishes and schools since they are generally afraid of technology as a whole.  The easier that you can make it for them, the more they will love you! Awesome feedback from Sam One of the coolest things was that we got some great feedback from Sam in England.  Although it came about 5 months ago, it was definitely inspiring and brought about the restoration of the podcast. From here on out, the main part of the blog is going to be the podcast.  I truly feel that the most exciting and entertaining part of Productive Catholic is the podcast, so it's going to be on the forefront.  There's a lot of great things coming down the pipe, so stay tuned!

I love when I get feedback! It makes it so much easier to do a podcast. Last week I got an email from Terry Miller asking the following: Hello, I was listening to your podcast #008 and you mentioned switching from blogger to wordpress. I just started a blog using blogger and wish I would have listened to your podcast earlier. Anyway, can you explain to me how to do this? I also want to start a Catholic podcast and would love any advice or direction on how to do this. I have little to no money. Oops, I forgot to mention I am a Mac user. Thanks, Terry These are two great questions.  In the podcast Igive a quick Internet 101 course and explain what hosting, what domain names are, and how you can can basically set up Wordpress with one click using a web host like Bluehost (who I use and would recommend a hundred times over). Once set up, you can install a Blogger to Wordpress redirection plugin (there are a few of them) and import your posts using the built-in blogger importer found in the tools section under import. One thing I noticed when migrating blogger over to Wordpress is that blogger "labels", which should be treated the same as Wordpress tags, are treated as categories.  Please, please, please do not leave them the way they are.  Your categories should be broad topics and you should have no more than 3 categories per post.  Tags, on the other hand, can be plentiful. For some great tutorials on Wordpress, check out Wordpress.tv In regards to the podcasting equipment on the cheap, I suggest just grabbing an inexpensive USB microphone, install Audacity for Mac and go to town.  Unless you are looking for something more than a hobby, it is okay to start small. There is a plugin that you can use called Blubrry PowerPress.  Search for that plugin in the plugin area of your Wordpress installation and install it.  It has pretty good documentation, and is a great way to get started with podcasting. Since you are looking to do a Catholic podcast, costent and passion is all that you need right now.  If you want to see how to take podcasting to the next level, I highly suggest listening to my interview with Cliff Ravenscraft on my other podcast, So Totally Business Savvy. All that being said, here are some action items. Say goodbye to blogger. Sign up with Bluehost (affiliate link.  you won't be disappointed) Install Wordpress Install a blogger to Wordpress Redirect Plugin Migrate your data over using the Wordpress importer tool Have loads of fun If you, or anyone, needs more help.  I am available for one-on-one consulting on Wordpress and productivity strategies.  Thank you so much for the feedback, it's an honor to be able to help answer your questions. =)