Beyond The To-do List

Cal Newport is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University, and the author most recently of Deep Work, a book which argues that focus is the new I.Q. in the modern workplace, and So Good They Can’t Ignore You, a book which debunks the long-held belief that “follow your passion” is good advice. Cal’s new book is Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elizabeth Emens is a Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, and the author of Life Admin: How I Learned to Do Less, Do Better, and Live More. Elizabeth Emens was a working mother with two young children, swamped like so many of us, when she realized that this invisible labor was consuming her. Desperate to survive and to help others along the way, she conducted interviews and focus groups to gather favorite tips and tricks, admin confessions, and the secrets of admin-happy households. Life Admin tackles the problem of admin in all its forms, from everyday tasks like scheduling doctors appointments and paying bills, to life-cycle events like planning a wedding, a birth, a funeral. Emens explores how this labor is created, how it affects our lives, and how we might avoid, reduce, and redistribute admin whenever possible—as individuals and as a society. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Erik talks through the three words he has chosen for this year, and his perspective on the whole process of choosing three words. Chris Brogan is the originator of this method. The words for 2019 are Bricklaying, Streamlining and Moments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liz Fosslien is a consultant on product design and experience design projects with companies including Salesforce, SYPartners, and Ernst & Young. Her work has been featured by The Economist, The Financial Times, NPR, Quartz, Fast Company, the Freakonomics Blog, and LifeHacker. Her first book No Hard Feelings: Emotions At Work and How They Help Us Succeed (co-author Mollie West Duffy) takes a look at how emotions profoundly affect key aspects of professional life. The book serves as a deeply researched guide to un-repressing emotions at work, finding constructive channels even for jealousy and anxiety, and demystifying digital interactions and coworker communication styles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For decades, Dr. Samantha has helped people to transform their lives with her innovative approach. Now you can use the same tested tools and guidance to experience the freedom of better health, greater resilience, and peace of mind. Samantha’s new book is Overcoming Overwhelm: Dismantle Your Stress from the Inside Out. In this episode she and Erik talk about overcoming overwhelm, dismantling stress and achieving greater resilience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Jarvis is a web designer, best-selling author and gentleman of adventure. Paul has a reputation as the designer whose vision and web design strategy is the prime catalyst for building multi-million dollar businesses. He’s worked with Silicon Valley startups, pro sports athletes, Fortune 500 companies, best-selling authors and the world’s biggest entrepreneurs. Paul has ben on the show once before which you can find here. Paul’s new book is Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business. In this episode he and Erik talk about staying small and avoiding growth to have freedom to pursue more meaningful pleasures in life, and avoid the headaches that result from dealing with employees, long meetings, or worrying about expansion. Company of One introduces this unique business strategy and explains how to make it work for you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joey Cofone is the Co-Founder at Baron Fig. Baron Fig is a New York design startup that is rooted in it’s mission to champion thinkers around the world through inspiration, imagination and productivity. In this conversation Joey and Erik talk about how Baron Fig was founded, the meaning behind the name and their design workflow using digital and analog. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joshua Becker is on a mission to inspire others to live more by owning less. Joshua is a blogger at Becoming Minimalist and is the bestselling author of Simplify and The More of Less. Joshua’s new book is The Minimalist Home: A Room-by-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life. In this episode Erik and Joshua discuss his new book, the meaning of minimalism, the practicality behind decluttering, how to get other members of your family of board and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Clear is an author and speaker focused on habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Entrepreneur, Time, and on CBS This Morning. He is a regular speaker at Fortune 500 companies and his work is used by teams in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. Through his online course, The Habits Academy, Clear has taught more than 10,000 leaders, managers, coaches, and teachers. In this episode James taels with Erik about his new book Habits: Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jim Woods is a freelance writer, author, developmental editor and business jumpstarter in northeast Ohio. His writing focuses on helping you get unstuck so you can achieve your dreams and live better stories. In this episode Jim. and Erik talk about getting unstuck, self awareness, how to know if you are stuck or just feel stuck and how to stop being blind about your blind spots.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Zeratsky was a designer in the tech industry who became obsessed with the idea of redesigning time. Previously, John was a senior designer​ at YouTube and Google. He is the author of New York Times bestseller Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days. In this conversation, John and Erik talk about his new book he cowrote, Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan Schawbel is a New York Times bestselling author, partner, and research director at Future Workplace, and the founder of both Millennial Branding and WorkplaceTrends.com. His latest book is Back to Human: How Great Leaders Create Connection in the Age of Isolation. In this episode Dan talks with Erik about how leaders to create a workplace where teammates feel genuinely connected, engaged, and empowered to grow strong interpersonal skills rather than relying on technology.In this episode Dan talks with Erik about how leaders to create a workplace where teammates feel genuinely connected, engaged, and empowered to grow strong interpersonal skills rather than relying on technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryder Carroll is a digital product designer and author living in Brooklyn, NY. Diagnosed with learning disabilities early in life, he was forced to figure out alternate ways to be focused and productive. Through years of trial and error, he developed a methodology that went far beyond simple organization. Now he focuses on helping others learn what the Bullet Journal method is truly about: the art of intentional living. Ryder’s new book is ‘The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future‘. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CJ McClanahan is Business coach with 12 years of experience inspiring growth, helping entrepreneurs develop systems and coaching business executives to be successful leaders. He is the host of the Success 2.0 podcast. He is also the author of the new book ‘The Overachiever’s Dilemma: How to Break the Achievement Obsession Before It Breaks You‘. In this episode, Cj and Erik discuss busyness, the comparison trap, reflection and redefining success.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jay Acunzo has served as a digital media strategist at Google and held multiple leadership positions at high-growth technology companies, including HubSpot. He spent three years as VP of Brand for the venture capital firm NextView before founding Unthinkable Media, which creates original series with B2B brands. Jay hosts his narrative-style podcast Unthinkable, and travels the world as a keynote speaker. In this conversation Jay talks with Erik about his new book: Break the Wheel: Question Best Practices, Hone Your Intuition, and Do Your Best Work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julie Morgenstern is a well known expert on organization and time management. The author of five best-selling books, Morgenstern has appeared on Oprah and NBC’s The Today Show, and helped thousands of people transform their homes, businesses, and attitudes about every kind of clutter. The New York City-based Julie Morgenstern Enterprises has been in business for more than 25 years. Her new book is called ‘Time to Parent: Organizing Your Life to Bring Out the Best in Your Child and You‘. In this conversation Julie and Erik talk about: Simple strategies to stay truly present and focused, whether you’re playing with your kids, enjoying a meal with your significant other, or getting ahead on that big proposal for work. Clever tips to make the most of in-between time―Just 5-15 minutes of your undivided attention has a huge impact on kids. Permission to take personal time without feeling guilty, and the science and case studies that show how important self-care is and how to make time for it. Mentioned in this

Jay Baer, CSP, CPAE has spent 25 years in digital marketing and customer experience, consulting for more than 700 companies during that period, including 34 of the FORTUNE 500. His current firm – Convince & Convert – provides word of mouth, digital marketing, and customer experience advice and counsel to some of the world’s most important brands. His new book, Talk Triggers, is the complete guide to creating customers using strategic, operational differentiators that compel word of mouth. In the best companies, the customers do the marketing. Talk Triggers is the instruction manual for making businesses grow with customer conversation. Mentioned in this episode: Talk Triggers  Brain.fm – Try it FREE and get 20% off your first year with promo code ‘beyond’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel Clark is the CEO of Brain.fm. Brain.fm makes music to help you do what you need to do, better. The company uses a patented AI engine to generate music backed by scientific research to help listeners focus, relax, and sleep. While “normal,” everyday music is primarily made to sound good and evoke feelings, Brain.fm works with a team of music composers backed by PhD-led scientific research to engineer music specifically designed to enhance these states within minutes of use. Daniel also made an offer to all listeners of this show: Try it out FREE AND get 20% off your first year! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaron Edelheit is the Chief Strategy Officer of FLO Technologies. Since selling his company, The American Home in 2015, Aaron founded Mindset Capital, a private investment firm. Aaron has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Bloomberg, and the New York Times and has given lectures on entrepreneurship and investments all over the U.S., Canada and South Africa. Aaron is the author of The Hard Break: The Case For The 24/6 Lifestyle. In this conversation, Aaron talks about his personal journey of discovering the joy of taking a “hard break” of one day a week to reset, Edelheit profiles not only his own life transformation, but how this same practice has been changing the lives of well known entrepreneurs, celebrities and politicians alike. For anyone who has ever struggled to find a good balance between life and work, this book offers an essential roadmap for how to make the right choices, attain more success, put life back into perspective and gain more happiness all by taking a hard break for yoursel

Mike is the Co-Founder and CEO of FreshBooks, the world’s #1 cloud accounting software for self-employed professionals. Built out of frustration after accidentally saving over an invoice, Mike spent 3.5 years growing FreshBooks from his parents’ basement. Since launching in 2003, over 10 million people have used FreshBooks to save time billing and collect billions of dollars. In this conversation, Mike talks with Erik about how cultivating culture at Freshbooks is his priority, helping employees cross pollinate ideas through blind dates, what an average day looks like for him, and how he stays productive and focused. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices