Undo – How History's Outliers Got Stuff Done podcast

22:09

Is there anything this 94 year-old business mogul can teach us about our attitude towards work and busyness? Check out our guest's podcast, You Are Not a Frog . Am I Stressed, Overwhelmed... or Burning Out? Get your free guide to help you tell the difference Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon…

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
The Hitchhiker's Guide to Productivity 31:29

8 days ago31:29

31:29

Highlights from Mark's podcast dedicated to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , which covers – if not skewers – the subject of productivity in the loving image of Douglas Adams. Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon…

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
How to remember everything — Tiago Forte and his Second Brain 27:17

15 days ago27:17

27:17

We need a system to keep our brain clear of all those nagging little tasks and bits of info we arry with us, so it can focus on having better ideas. Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
How to build a car or plan a wedding using Kanban 20:03

22 days ago20:03

20:03

We can learn a lot from the world of manufacture and bring it into the work that we do. Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
Why giving less than 100% is better for your health 17:57

29 days ago17:57

17:57

The whip-cracking "give it all you got" business bro bullshit isn’t just insensitive – it’s actually wrong. Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
Buckminster Fuller and the system of You 21:22

5 weeks ago21:22

21:22

Modern work needs a more modern approach than Taylorism's simple "one right way". Enter systems theory, and one of its greatest proponents. Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
What Sherlock Holmes can teach us about productivity and our brains 24:51

6 weeks ago24:51

24:51

He’s the world’s first and only consulting detective, and his mind has fascinated us for over a hundred and thirty years. His methods are mysterious and complex, but goddammit he gets results. So what can Baker Street’s most famous resident teach us about how we do our most important work? Special thanks to this week's guest, Matthew Bellringer . Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon…

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
How to stick to it when the novelty wears off – Atomic Habits 27:27

7 weeks ago27:27

27:27

Could there be more to habit building than “just showing up”? On those days when you can’t find the inspiration, is there anything you can do to help keep you on track? Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon…

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
How to turn your side hustle into your main gig – “The One Thing” 28:33

8 weeks ago28:33

28:33

While we might not come up with a paradigm-shifting idea, we are capable of putting a dent in the universe, and putting something on the permanent record of the Internet. Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon…

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
20% of your effort makes up 80% of your success — The Pareto principle 26:20

9 weeks ago26:20

26:20

How you can use this law of nature, work, productivity and creativity to focus on the stuff that will have the biggest impact, and eventually ditch the rest. Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon…

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
How to be a polymath – Leonardo da Vinci 23:46

10 weeks ago23:46

23:46

Being a creative person in this most digital of decades means needing to be good at more than one form of creative expression. That means thinking like a polymath, and luckily we have history’s greatest multi-hyphenate to learn from. Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon…

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
The super-productive women missing from time management history 21:03

11 weeks ago21:03

21:03

Let’s spend a bit of time today with some of the women of productivity history, some of whom you know, some we’ll meet for the first time. Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
How Ben Franklin used timeboxing to stop missing deadlines 22:30

12 weeks ago22:30

22:30

If you have to meet any kind of regular publishing schedule, you’ll know how time can stretch out into infinity until the night before you have to hit Publish, when suddenly it feels like you have to cram 8 hours of work into 30 minutes. But Benjamin Franklin had a neat little system that helped him keep on top of his commitments, and all it takes is a pen, some paper, and a watch. Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon…

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
What happened to the Inbox Zero guy? 26:44

13 weeks ago26:44

26:44

Inbox Zero is a pretty good way of organising your email, but behind the system is a dude who stepped off the hamster wheel of productivity, got some perspective, and became one of the Internet’s true treasures. Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon…

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
How to make fewer mistakes – The Checklist Manifesto 23:50

14 weeks ago23:50

23:50

Simple mistakes are more common than it’s comfortable to admit. But there’s a dirt-simple technique that has dramatically reduced the number of preventable deaths, and it’s stuff we can use to make our own lives run more smoothly. Thanks to Ayesha Khan of Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* for lending her voice to Mark's silly opening sketch. Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon…

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
How to work when the sky’s caving in — Lincoln vs Churchill 27:13

15 weeks ago27:13

27:13

When things look bleak, either in your head or out in the world, being “productive” is probably the furthest thing from your mind. We live in difficult times, no doubt, but two outliers a hundred years apart, fought oppression, propaganda, and dehumanisation all while under their own personal dark clouds. Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon…

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
Bullet Journal – Productive or performative? 20:55

16 weeks ago20:55

20:55

Can this analogue system for a digital age really help us get more done? Has it strayed from its roots and become synonymous with people who call things “super aesthetic”? And, if we can learn what we need to about the system in 3 minutes, why does it cost three and a half grand to learn to teach it? Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon…

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
How to get into the zone — Flow 19:48

17 weeks ago19:48

19:48

Time stands still and you’re in that sweet-spot where the work you're doing is challenging enough to hold your attention, but not so difficult that it causes you stress. This is flow, and it might just prove itself to be one of the keys that unlocks long-term happiness. Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon…

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
The tomato of productivity – the Pomodoro Technique 19:24

18 weeks ago19:24

19:24

It’s four o’clock in the afternoon, and you’re thinking over your day. Did you actually get anything done, or were you just reacting to a bunch of distractions? Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon…

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
Do the worst thing first thing (”Eat the frog”) 15:38

19 weeks ago15:38

15:38

“Eat a live frog every morning, and nothing worse will happen to you for the rest of the day.” So says Mark Twain. Or so says a productivity guru says Mark Twain. But as far as we can tell, Mark Twain never said that. So what’s with all the frogs, and how can they help us do more of the right stuff, and less of the wrong? Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon…

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
Work expands to fill the time available – Parkinson’s Law 14:09

20 weeks ago14:09

14:09

Studies show if you give people 60 minutes to complete a task that only takes 30, they’ll work the full hour instead of taking the rest off. That’s Parkinson’s Law in action, and by recognising it, we can buy back some time to ourselves. Just don’t tell the boss, or they’ll give you more busy work. Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon…

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
The Eisenhower Matrix – Decision-making in the White House 13:53

21 weeks ago13:53

13:53

How do you decide what needs to be done now, and what can wait? And how do you take care of the stuff that needs doing now, while not neglecting the things that make it worth getting out of bed in the morning? Support the show from $3 and get Episodes early and ad-free Join our listener community Join Mark for monthly Q&As Support Undo via Patreon…

Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done

1
Introducing Undo 1:11

30 weeks ago1:11