The Podcast

222: Core Hours Framework in practice

Michael Sliwinski of Nozbe — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 06:06:00 +0100

If you're a busy entrepreneur, manager or team leader, I'm sure your workweek is totally slammed. Between managing, delegating and leading, you also need time for focused work. There’s simply no time to sit down and work on this brilliant new idea that's been bugging you. I’ve been struggling with a similar problem as the CEO of Nozbe.

However, as a productivity nut I’ve been digging through many time management books and systems in an effort to find a solution for this… and I think I’ve got it. I call it CORE HOURS listen to the AI co-hosts explaining this idea to you in a short podcast, enjoy!

🎁 And for listeners, there’s a bonus from Nozbe ($30!)

221: Remove Social Media Apps from your Smartphone

Michael Sliwinski of Nozbe — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 06:06:00 +0100

Time for a challenge! Should you choose to accept it, you have a shot at receiving these 5 benefits:

improve your productivity
regain clarity
boost your self-esteem
reduce anxiety
improve your ability to focus!

What's the cost? Just remove social media apps from your smart phone! I know it sounds drastic, but hear me out - I've written an essay about it at michael.team/social - or just listen to the AI co-hosts diving deeper into the subject and proving that this can be done!

🎁 And for listeners, there’s a bonus from Nozbe ($30!)

220: 10 Books that shaped my business life

Michael Sliwinski of Nozbe — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 16:57:21 +0100

In a world that rewards busyness over progress, these 10 books taught me how to go fast while slowing down and create more with less. A few months back I shared my 10 favorite business books of all time which you can find at michael.team/10books - and now listen to the Google's Notebook LM co-hosts discussing these books in more detail, enjoy!

🎁 And for listeners, there’s a bonus from Nozbe ($30!)

219: Journaling or 5 minutes a day that will improve your life

Michael Sliwinski — Mon, 18 Aug 2025 11:46:48 +0200

Let’s talk about benefits of Journaling and my free Journal 4 shortcut that will help you start journaling in no time.

For background, here’s my entire journaling journey.

🎁 And for listeners, there’s a bonus from Nozbe ($30!)

218: Perfect Home Office for 2025 with recording studio

Michael Sliwinski of Nozbe — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 12:10:45 +0200

Discussion about my perfect Home Office setup:

🎁 Get $30 of credits for Nozbe (up to 3 months free!)

217: Immature business decisions in 18 years of Nozbe

Michael Sliwinski of Nozbe — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 16:44:14 +0100

Discussion about Michael’s essay:

How my immature decisions led me to celebrating 18 years of my productivity business?

Also check out Michael’s own discussion in the podcast:

NoOffice Podcast 58 - Immature Business Decisions

216: Michael’s #BackpackOnly lifestyle

Michael Sliwinski of Nozbe — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 13:14:58 +0100

AI co-hosts discuss Michael’s latest detailed contents of his Backpack

Read it at: michael.team/backpack

Also don’t forget to check out Michael’s posts about #NoOffice and #iPadOnly

🎁 Get $30 from Nozbe at: nozbe.com/podcast

215: Time is Money?

Michael Sliwinski of Nozbe — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 14:00:33 +0100

AI co-hosts discuss Michael’s latest essay: Time is Money

Read it at: michael.team/money

Additional discussion by Michael himself is at NoOffice FM #52

Find it at: nooffice.fm/52

🎁 Get $30 from Nozbe at: nozbe.com/podcast

214: Michael’s #iPadOnly setup

Michael Sliwinski of Nozbe — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 16:37:59 +0100

Today's episode is a deep dive discussion between AI co-hosts about my #iPadOnly essays:

How can I be so productive on the iPad?

And:

Why I must work on the iPad - the most versatile computer ever - M1 iPad Pro 13” review after 2 years

If you liked this episode, please rate it on Podcasts and send it to anyone of your friends or colleagues, thank you!

Bonus: get $30 of credits for Nozbe Premium if you sign up at nozbe.com/podcast

213: Michael’s Weekly Template

Michael Sliwinski of Nozbe — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 12:40:18 +0100

Hello The Podcast listeners, as you know Radek and I are no longer recording this podcast, but I am still podcasting at

NoOffice.fm - which I'm recording every two weeks with my Nozbe team

And

Team Productivity Show

Feel free to subscribe to one or both of these podcasts using the links in the show notes to this episode.

To make up for our silence today as a bonus I'm giving you a short podcast episode about a topic much related to what me and Radek have discussed earlier on this show.

Today's episode is a deep dive discussion between NotebookLM co-hosts about my essay called

Weekly Template

which you can read at:

Michael.team/week

If you liked this episode, please rate it on Podcasts and send it to anyone of your friends or colleagues who would benefit from a more structured week.

Bonus: get $30 of credits for Nozbe Premium if you sign up at nozbe.com/podcast

212: Reunite the team from home

Michael Sliwinski of Nozbe — Sun, 02 May 2021 15:00:00 +0200

Podcast sponsor:

✅ Nozbe - Work from home with your team

Key things you will learn from this episode:

How to organize an online team retreat
What special gifts and activities we had during Nozbe Reunion
What we've learned from our latest Virtual Reunion
Why #iPadOnly guys like Michael and Rafal are not so excited with the new iPad Pro

Subscribe to our show and learn more about running a remote software company:

🟣 Apple Podcasts

🔵 Google Podcasts

🟢 Spotify

🟡 RSS

🟠 Overcast

🔴 Pocket Cast

Meet the Hosts

Rafał Sobolewski (@sobolowy)
Michael Sliwiński (@msliwinski)

Show notes

211: Warsaw

Michael Sliwinski of Nozbe — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 10:35:05 +0100

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Add to Overcast, Get RSS

The Podcast is a semi-regular chat between Radek and yours truly (we both work at Nozbe) about productivity, business, books, and whatever else comes to mind… - if you liked this episode, make sure to check out past episodes.

Show notes for this episode:

Copy & share: ThePodcast.fm/211

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210: No Rules Rules

The Podcast — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 19:17:45 +0100

Discussing Netflix CEO’s thoughts on leadership: - building a high talent density workplace - leading by context - removing unnecessary policies (vacation, spending, travel)

209: Lean House

The Podcast — Sun, 27 Dec 2020 08:39:39 +0100

Applying Lean methodology from Japanese factories (specifically, the kanban pull system) to managing groceries and other house supplies. Never will you ever run out of toilet paper again!

208: Smart teams work from home

The Podcast — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 10:35:37 +0200

Should we focus Nozbe marketing on Work From Home? Michael has a frank discussion with Radek about this. Maybe it’s a great idea! Or maybe, it’s too niche and will ruin our marketing.

207: Competition Gossip Corner

The Podcast — Mon, 25 May 2020 09:48:50 +0200

Let’s gossip about what our competitors are doing… Basecamp 4, HEY? What are they all about? Are they a threat?

206: Radek’s Face Shield Factory

The Podcast — Fri, 17 Apr 2020 12:02:25 +0200

Radek has started a job in manufacturing… pro bono manufacturing of face shields for hospitals in Poland. No, really. Over the last few weeks, Radek has been applying what he’d learned about CAD, laser cutting, and lean manufacturing at the Warsaw Hackerspace to set up a face shield production line. In three weeks, they produced over 30 000 face shields.

205: Chat about: kaizen & performance

The Podcast — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 10:08:04 +0200

This episode is a new, experimental format. It’s just Radek calling Michael to chat about work. Like they normally would. Except that it happens to be recorded and published, so you can get a glimpse into how we do it. In this chat, we’re trying to figure out how to institute cultural change at the company, and make Kaizen part of our everyday work and thinking. Also, Radek’s frustrations with UI work, and change of direction for 2020.

204: Core Hours

The Podcast — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 09:50:36 +0100

Make a huge impact with just 2 hours per day. Discussing Michael’s latest productivity hack and how this simple change allowed him to be way more productive this year.

203: Lean at Nozbe

The Podcast — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 10:52:13 +0100

How we apply Lean philosophy to the Nozbe Teams development process: - Weekly release train - Phased releases - One-day pull requests - CI/CD - Asynchronous testing - Feature flags - Bug fixing Mondays - Dev responsibilities - Roadmap Rangers - Time scoping - Kaizen in customer support - Text daily standups - Kaizen math Feel free to follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/msliwinski and https://twitter.com/radexp

202: The Machine That Changed The World

The Podcast — Thu, 05 Mar 2020 08:29:44 +0100

We dive deep into Lean Manufacturing - how Ford’s mass manufacturing changed the world, how Toyota dramatically improved on the process - and why it matters even if you’re not in manufacturing.

201: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k

The Podcast — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 09:57:48 +0100

In life, there’s a limited number of f’s you can give — very few in fact. And yet we give them out left and right, robbing us of simple tranquility in life. We discuss the book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k — a modern, approachable guide to stoicism.

200: Best of The Podcast

The Podcast — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 18:08:54 +0100

Celebrating nearly 5 years and 199 episodes of The Podcast, and giving our recommendations for the best stories and recommendations we’ve recorded so far.

199: Art of Feedback

The Podcast — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 08:28:26 +0100

When we receive feedback, or an idea, a suggestion, we tend to become defensive. We’re sure they’re wrong and we’re right, and we stop listening. And thus we miss out on good insights. Or do we? Perhaps the real problem is the culture, people being too delicate, and so we are forced into unnecessary niceties instead of giving and receiving feedback straight?

198: 2019 in Review

The Podcast — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 21:15:36 +0100

Like every year, we’re taking this moment to reflect on 2019, review our successes and failures, set some goals (not resolutions!) for 2020, and put in motion a process to ensure it’s going to be a great year.

197: Horizontal Responsibilities

The Podcast — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 18:40:51 +0100

Exploring the idea of abolishing (or enhancing) the hierarchical structure of companies in favor of dispersing responsibilities broadly into a mesh — not based on rank, but particular skill, specialization, experience.

196: Hands Are Dirty

The Podcast — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 14:30:39 +0100

Getting your hands dirty to create physical objects, tinker, work with plastic, metal, and wood is fun! A more soothing hobby than doing stuff at the computer, and a better way to spend an evening than Netflix. We discuss home renovations, CNC milling, concrete casting, and industrial robots.

195: Gadgets, with love

The Podcast — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 14:21:38 +0100

We got, no, we _made_ some cool new gadgets for the Fall 2019 Nozbe Reunion: Laser-cut phone stands, zero waste produce bags and hemp dish cleaner, and smog sensors.

194: Trendsetters

The Podcast — Tue, 26 Nov 2019 20:13:48 +0100

To create Nozbe Teams, we had to grow from being a product company to being a technology company. In this episode, we’re telling the story of what technological infrastructure we’ve chosen and created for this project (and why).

193: Two-Product Company

The Podcast — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 10:44:21 +0100

In 2016, we decided to make "Nozbe for Teams". Then, we changed its name to just Nozbe 4. Ultimately, we've decided to call the new product Nozbe Teams and become, at least for a while, a two-product company. In this episode, we're winding the history back to the beginnings of this project and re-telling the story of why and how this came to be.

192: Corrupted System

The Podcast — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 10:14:05 +0200

This wasn't supposed to be this week's show. We meant to talk about Nozbe Teams… but instead, we go on a 40 minute long crusade against… jeans and MacBooks.

191: Summer's Gone

The Podcast — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 08:45:25 +0200

Catching up after a 3-month summer break from The Podcast. Vacations, conferences, open source, webmastering, Nozbe Teams, Portland, and driving licenses.

190: Webmaster is back!

The Podcast — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 09:31:17 +0200

The Podcast is on a summer break. Meanwhile, Michael started playing with code again and have just launched three new website projects. And we briefly discuss and update on Digital Minimalism and Michael's break from social media.

189: Dub dub

The Podcast — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 11:55:57 +0200

Live from Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California, we discuss our fresh reactions from Apple's conference. New iPadOS, the cheese grater, Shortcuts and automation, Catalyst, and SwiftUI.

188: Michael 4.0

The Podcast — Fri, 31 May 2019 07:41:18 +0200

Having reached his 40th birthday (and we, The Podcast, our fourth), Michael shares his best bits of wisdom: Finding what you're good at, striving for longevity, knowing when to reinvent yourself, having fun, and nurturing friendships.

187: Camino

The Podcast — Mon, 20 May 2019 08:43:08 +0200

Michael talks about what it's like to walk a 260km pilgrimage over a week and a half, why he and his wife did it, how it can be a great experience even for non-religious people, how to pack for it, and why northern Spain is kinda nice.

186: Courage to be disliked

The Podcast — Wed, 08 May 2019 07:25:00 +0200

Discussing The Courage To Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga. Giving autonomy to live their own lives, neither prasing nor rebuking, and finding happiness in being beneficial to people around us.

185: Factfulness

The Podcast — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 15:51:37 +0200

The world is bad, but better. The vast majority of westerners believe the world is poorer, more violent, deadly, primitive, and awful than it actually is. This book beautifully illustrates our ignorance, updates your knowledge, and gives you tools for a fact-based worldview.

184: Digital Minimalism

The Podcast — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 13:19:30 +0200

Digital Minimalism - A philosophy where you focus your technology use on a small number of carefully selected and optimized activities that support your values, and happily miss out on everything else. We discuss Cal Newport's new book on this very topic. Why clutter is costly, optimization is imporatant, and intentionality is satisfying. We explore reclaiming our leisure time. BREAKING NEWS: Michael pledges to go on a 30 day digital declutter from Twitter and Instagram!

183: N is 4 Nozbe

The Podcast — Wed, 17 Apr 2019 17:28:07 +0200

Nozbe 4, our brand new app has a brand new icon (and logo). This week, we talk about what's wrong with ticks and circles, what makes a good logo, why we decided to go for it, and how it almost didn't happen.

182: Purple Day

The Podcast — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 15:14:11 +0200

What we've learned about productivity and collaboration over the years. How technology improvement allows us to get to the next level. And why starting from scratch is scary, but sometimes necessary.

181: The Deadline

The Podcast — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 22:20:42 +0100

Pulling back the curtain on the development process of Nozbe 4. When we started, how we progressed over time, and why we had to impose on ourselves the deadline of April 4.

180: Childhood bribes

The Podcast — Wed, 20 Mar 2019 14:59:15 +0100

Stories about competition, punishment, and rewards in the classroom and our childhoods. We continue discussing what we've learned from Punished by Rewards.

179: Punished by rewards

The Podcsat — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 20:24:13 +0100

When we reward someone (an employee, a student, a child) for doing what we want them to do, we think we're doing the right thing, motivating them to keep doing it. In reality, incentives only have a shallow, immediate effect — and in the long term, we're killing the other person's intrinsic motivation, and making them resent us for being controlling.

178: Complaining

The Podcast — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 11:49:32 +0100

The good, the bad, and the necessary of complaining and complainers. To keep improving, and to communicate efficiently in an organization (and to be grown up) is to understand that complaints are not usually toxic, negative, or a personal attack against you — but are simply feedback. To say to someone not to bring you problems, but only solutions is to guarantee you'll be oblivious to everything that's broken in a company. (But yes, some complaints are nothing more than unhelpful snark — learn to distinguish between the two)

177: Planning together

The Podcast — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 09:08:10 +0100

How to review and plan a year together. Because Annual Review is not just for you, and for your work, but for your family and relationships too.

176: Salary formula

The Podcast — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 09:45:51 +0100

We started paying our employees salaries based on a formula that applies to everyone, not based on individual negotiations. Here’s why, and how.

175: 100% Buzz-Free

The Podcast — Wed, 06 Feb 2019 20:50:20 +0100

Follow-up on our journey towards a (slightly) calmer life — with fewer distractions, push notifications, and social media. Pushing forward to find the right balance between utility and mindfulness. How to hide (but not delete) distracting apps on iOS and Android, time and open limits on Facebook and other apps, blocking websites, old school newsletters, and more.

174: 12 years

The Podcast — Fri, 01 Feb 2019 06:30:48 +0100

Celebrating 12 years of profitably running Nozbe (without any outside investors), Michael recounts some of the most important milestones, and most amusing anecdotes of the company’s history. That, and a sneak peak into the future of Nozbe

173: The Year of Purple

The Podcast — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 08:00:57 +0100

Here’s a sneak peak for Michael’s and Radek’s plans for 2019 (a.k.a. the year of Purple / the year of intentionality).

172: It doesn’t have to be crazy at work

The Podcast — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 12:28:20 +0100

Always busy? Endless meetings? Can’t sleep? No time to think? Screw that. It doesn’t have to be crazy at work. It makes no sense. Exhausted, overworked, sleep-deprived people with no long stretches of uninterrupted time can’t really be productive. Busyness and effectiveness are not the same. We discuss a book from Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson.

171: 2018 in Review

The Podcast — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 12:44:30 +0100

The biggest themes, projects, successes, and failures of 2018 in Michael’s and Radek’s lives. And COOKIES! (And rockets!)

170: Live intentionally

The Podcast — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 09:10:38 +0100

Here’s your choice to live a more intentional life. To learn from the events, plans, successes, and failures of the last year. To contemplate what makes you, you. To make plans, set goals, learn new things, and develop habits for next year. To let go. Here’s the end of the year, and our definitive guide to Annual Review.

169: Bull**it Jobs

The Podcast — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 08:25:34 +0100

Here’s a crazy idea: what if half of all work performed in our society was useless or unnecessary, and if it stopped, no one would notice — or care. We dive into David Graeber’s food for thought.

168: Get bored

The Podcast — Thu, 06 Dec 2018 08:58:21 +0100

We own technology so that it makes our life better. Right? Or is it the other way around? What if filling every single second of our life with social media and compulsively checking all our inboxes and feeds 50 times per day makes us unable to focus and to be intentional? What if visiting social media once per day for 20 minutes is good and healthy, but 20 times per day for one minute isn't? A discussion + some coping hacks

167: The clunky future

The Podcast — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 09:11:39 +0100

The state of computing is in an awkward state, but full of promise. On one side, unnecessary complicated PCs; on the other, fun but somewhat clunky iPads. One year into the #iPadOnly lifestyle, Radek unpacks pros and cons of both, and their future converging paths. (Last time we talk about iPads until next WWDC, promise!)

166: Talk about size

The Podcast — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 09:40:33 +0100

Michael’s new iPad is faster than Radek’s 15’’ MacBook Pro. Ouch! Why “you can’t work on an iPad” is (mostly) BS. Which iPad to buy?

165: Let’s fix it!

The Podcast — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 08:21:55 +0100

Instead of only complaining, you can act to change things for the better in your local community, neighborhood, city, school. Most people tend to think that getting involved must be very difficult, impossible, or political. But the truth is, a lot of the time, it takes very little to make a positive impact.

164: Why we do what we do

The Podcast — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 08:46:04 +0100

Over time, we start taking things for granted, get used to the status quo, get into the rut, and forget the basics — the motivating factors behind why we do what we do. Here are our reasons.

163: Joy of less

The Podcast — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 08:58:31 +0100

Follow-up on the joy of minimalist backpack-only packing: wallets, cycling, charing, shaving… and a follow-up on home renovations and tidying up.

162: Backpack Only

The Podcast — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 07:57:59 +0200

The Podcast special, live from a Nozbe company reunion in Kraków! This one, if you can, you should really watch on video. We unpack our backpacks on camera, and show precisely every single item we have inside. Turns out, you really don’t need that much space to fit everything you need for a trip.

161: Talk to them!

The Podcast — Wed, 17 Oct 2018 16:42:56 +0200

Lessons learned from Michael’s visit to Mobiconf. The liberty of backpack-only lifestyle. Choosing conferences wisely. And talking to people.

160: Building with hammers

The Podcast — Wed, 10 Oct 2018 10:40:57 +0200

Home office renovations, laying out cable, procrastination, tinkering with Raspberry Pi, and home automation on the cheap

159: Home automation

The Podcast — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 09:48:24 +0200

Experimenting with home automation with HomeKit

158: Sabbatical

The Podcast — Wed, 26 Sep 2018 08:36:14 +0200

Can a CEO of a small company stop working completely for 6 weeks? Michael just did, and this are his lessons learned.

157: Watermelon

The Podcast — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 08:27:50 +0200

The story behind the first artifact of the secret Project Purple, and Nozbe’s first big piece of open-source code: WatermelonDB. What it is, why we spent more than a year developing it, and what was the process of releasing it at React Native EU.

156: Sport hacks

The Podcast — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 12:24:18 +0200

Social accountability, structure, running with guests, cycling to school, and other brain hacks to find more time and opportunities for sports in our lives.

155: Spreading the word

The Podcast — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 08:34:25 +0200

To blog or not to blog? Searching for our personal soapboxes, and pondering if blogging still matters when you can just record a podcast (and if it does, when and why).

154: Inevitable Convergence

The Podcast — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 09:04:11 +0200

The new MacBook Pro. Why iOS and macOS are destined to converge. The future of Apple computers.

153: Attention Required

The Podcast — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 07:57:17 +0200

GDPR - the good, the bad, the ugly. Dark design of privacy popups. The legal, cultural, and technical fronts of the battle against privacy erosion.

152: Power to the people

The Podcast — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 16:31:34 +0200

“It’s loud, dangerous, costly, produces poor results, and I love it”. In other words, welcome to the world of 3D printing. Radek tells about his journey with this: how it works, why it’s way more difficult than it seems, and why it’s amazing.

151: Nozbe: Automated

The Podcast — Wed, 04 Jul 2018 08:56:31 +0200

Advancements in iOS automation. Simplifying morning/afternoon routine and travel with Nozbe automation. Resisting social media compulsive behavior (also on Android). And what’s next.

150: Three years in

The Podcast — Fri, 29 Jun 2018 16:22:16 +0200

Learning from three years of The Podcast. Keeping it short, sticking to audio, some stats, and feedback from our listeners!

149: Profit First

The Podcast — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 09:55:09 +0200

Discussing — a simple system for managing finances designed around human flaws. We talk about the ideas from the book (written mostly for entrepreneurs), and then turn to how we adapted and applied the lessons to our personal lives.

148: Don’t spend it all

The Podcast — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 17:27:30 +0200

Thoughts on saving money. We discuss two different approaches to money when you’re young. And then we talk about ETFs — the simplest, least risky way to invest money in stock markets.

147: Shackles, please!

The Podcast — Wed, 06 Jun 2018 12:52:47 +0200

Our take on Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference 2018

146: Magic of Tidying Up

The Podcast — Wed, 30 May 2018 15:01:02 +0200

Why living in a simple, minimalistic space is efficient, frugal, and good for psychological well-being. And more importantly: how to get there. (Hint: it’s an emotionally daunting journey, but well worth it!)

145: Don't say that

The Podcast — Tue, 22 May 2018 11:37:29 +0200

A real snapshot of how we work together. Michael is working on a presentation about remote work for infoShare, and we iterate on the draft, together, live.

144: Staring at a blank canvas

The Podcast — Tue, 15 May 2018 10:14:11 +0200

A strategy for dealing with the hardest kind of tasks. Hint: it’s not by trying to make it 100% right in one go.

143: How to spend money

The Podcast — Wed, 09 May 2018 11:24:41 +0200

Exploring the domain of personal finance: analyzing your spending, how to save money efficiently, why (saving on things you don't care about so you can spend on things you do), and Michael's rant on young people.

142: Aliens among us

The Podcast — Wed, 02 May 2018 15:59:17 +0200

Questioning the format, purpose, length, and need for the semi-annual Nozbe Reunion — the only time when our remote company is in one physical location. More learning from our mistakes, old and new. And how to let go.

141: Nozbe at Nozbe

The Podcast — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 12:30:03 +0200

This week, we explain, in detail, do we use Nozbe (the app) at Nozbe (the company). Why not all projects have a specific goal and end, a company message board, how to organize work and communication in a software development team, and how to semi-automate complex procedures with templates.

140: Raising the bar

The Podcast — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 12:38:03 +0200

Our hopes and wishes for Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference next month. Discussing bezel-less iPads, a convergence of iOS and macOS, and products Apple should not be selling anymore.

139: First tasks first

The Podcast — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 15:31:32 +0200

Radek explains his best system yet for planning the day and week to squeeze as much deep work as possible. First tasks first, then the frog, radio silence until 10am, plan the next day early, manage energy levels, and keep a stash of backup tasks. Easy!

138: Leap of faith

The Podcast — Tue, 03 Apr 2018 08:31:55 +0200

A meandering discussion on advantages of semi-nomadic lifestyle, the brokenness of companies, changing paradigms, always taking the blame, and being immunized by experience.

137: Nomadic lifestyle

The Podcast — Tue, 27 Mar 2018 10:18:57 +0200

Radek explains what it takes to be a digital nomad — how to travel often, with little preparation, overhead, or stress, all while still doing your job. We discuss: how to pack for a week in a backpack, how to pack extremely fast, how to keep your good habits during the trip, and how to be productive while traveling.

136: Traveling with apps

The Podcast — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 09:40:53 +0100

Using technology to make traveling easier. How to keep track of who owes whom how much, saving money on currency exchanges, running through the airport more quickly, keeping track of expenses, managing preparation for a trip, and sharing all the files, calendars, maps… and more.

135: Swiss army apps

The Podcast — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 09:01:15 +0100

Discussing iOS apps, and how to use them powerfully. A follow-up on note-taking, document scanning, and maintaining a Magic Spreadhseet on iPhone and iPad. Also, why it’s totally normal, even for a minimalist, to have multiple note-taking apps (or to-do apps for that matter).

134: Nozbe for you

The Podcast — Tue, 06 Mar 2018 17:47:12 +0100

How Michael and Radek organize their lives (side projects, hobbies, chores, errands) outside of work using Nozbe. http://thepodcast.fm/134

133: Better Than Before

The Podcast — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 08:50:05 +0100

Cultivating good habits and overcoming bad ones — discussing the most interesting strategies and brain hacks from Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin.

132: Reusable Rocketry

The Podcast — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 12:58:11 +0100

On the day of Falcon Heavy's maiden launch (currently the most powerful rocket in the world), we discuss what makes SpaceX great. SpaceX makes the cheapest and most powerful rockets in the world, and they're reusable. How come they succeeded, and NASA's Space Shuttle (also supposed to be cheap and reusable) failed? There are lessons you can take from SpaceX's success and apply them to companies in other industries.

131: Singular Focus of 2018

The Podcast — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 18:51:01 +0100

Annual Review series, part 5 (and last!). Learning from previous years and quarterly reviews, and applying lessons of Burst Projects, Values, and Letting go to design the best year ever. Making fewer goals, and putting them sequentially, not in parallel, to bring margin into our busy lives.

130: 2017 Highlights

The Podcast — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 16:24:00 +0100

Annual Review series, part 4. We're taking a look back at last year, to consider all that was good, bad, ugly, or just unexpected, and learn from it.

129: Letting go

The Podcast — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 10:42:13 +0100

Annual Review series, part 3. Each year, start anew. Your past projects, goals, habits don’t matter… unless you decide that they really do. Don’t automatically move last year’s failed goals to this year. And don’t hold yourself to the highest standard you’ve ever achieved.

128: Values

The Podcast — Tue, 16 Jan 2018 09:33:12 +0100

Annual Review series, part 2. Last week we discussed how to structure goals. Today, we discuss how to select your goals in the first place. It starts with deep self-knowledge. Truly understanding the things about you, what motivates you, what excites you, what makes you tick, and also what you dislike and despise. Not the things that everyone will nod their head at, but the things particular to you. When you write down what you really are like, it suddenly becomes clear which things are important, and which ones merely seemed like a good idea.

127: Burst Projects vs Keystone Habits

The Podcast — Thu, 11 Jan 2018 09:14:18 +0100

Annual Review series, part 1. Sometimes you stumble upon a project that excites and engages you so much, it gives you what feels like superhuman power. We discuss how to foster the right environment for such projects to appear in your life. We also explore the subject of focus. We're much better at doing hard things sequentially than all at once. Well… most things. Some — keystone habits — only work if you do them with high consistency. And so we present a new template for planning goals for the year. Either as burst projects (high intensity, short duration), or keystone habits (low intensity, high consistency). But not long, stretched out projects layered on top of each other.

126: Inbox Non-Zero

The Podcast — Thu, 04 Jan 2018 14:28:59 +0100

How to become less addicted to notifications and badges. The thing is: they're designed to make us react. Every time we see there's a new message, we check it out. And thus it becomes a compulsive behavior we cannot stop (we're just humans after all). We can reduce our exposure to the trigger (have less notifications), but how do we fix the root cause?

125: No speed limit

The Podcast — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 07:59:02 +0100

Learn a new language in the New Year! Following up on the previous two episodes on learning languages, we share more tips on how to learn efficiently, as well as our own progress (Radek learning Spanish, and Michael learning French)

124: Making geeks smile

The Podcast — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 08:41:11 +0100

Cool gadgets you can get for Christmas. Also: Review of 2017 in hardware, and why Radek doesn't wear an Apple Watch anymore.

123: So Good They Can’t Ignore You

The Podcast — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 08:45:04 +0100

Just follow your passion, right? … No. Unless you’re already highly skilled at something you’re passionate about, following your passion will only drive you to be miserable. To get a great job you can feel passionate about, you must first have something rare and valuable to give. You must be so good they can’t ignore you. A much better idea: Follow your curiosity.

122: Deep Pre-Decision

The Podcast — Wed, 29 Nov 2017 13:39:05 +0100

Optimizing your day for Deep Work. Or, what to do to make highly productive, deeply focused work possible (and likely).

121: Scanning & Planning

The Podcast — Wed, 22 Nov 2017 10:42:01 +0100

More mobile life & iOS automation talk: 1. Using Scanbot (and not Evernote) for document safekeeping 2. Optimizing Magic Spreadsheet for iPhone, tracking time spent, micro-journaling

120: Spanglish

The Podcast — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 20:33:01 +0100

Part 2 of our discussion on: - How to develop a better accent in a foreign language - Michael’s story of learning Spanish - Duolingo and computer-aided language learning

119: The Polyglots

The Podcast — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 16:13:29 +0100

The story of how Michael and Radek learned English, German, and other languages. Michael's way was to watch lots of movies and sing lots of songs. Meanwhile, Radek plugs in historical spaced repetition learning data from his very first magic spreadsheet (again!).

118: More Than Good Enough

The Podcast — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 19:26:59 +0100

After a few months of heavy iPad use, Radek admits: despite its (obvious) flaws and limitations, iPad Pro is a surprisingly good computer. There's still ways to go, but with some determination and a shift in mindset, there are very few things you can't do on an iPad.

117: Notch of the Future

The Podcast — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 17:06:49 +0200

Discussing the good, the bad, and the ugly of the iPhone X. Also: Wireless charging everywhere, ARM on the Mac, iPhone multitasking.

116: App of the Reunion

The Podcast — Wed, 18 Oct 2017 10:54:41 +0200

Like every half a year, we reunite in one physical location, this time: Wrocław. We talk about learning languages, beers, Taiwan, and the low-carb diet.

115: Triathlons

The Podcast — Sat, 14 Oct 2017 12:35:32 +0200

Michael celebrates his tenth triathlon, explains how he got into it and tries to persuade Radek to compete as well.

114: Panamá

The Podcast — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 10:50:46 +0200

About Radek's trip to Panama, along with a bunch of traveling pro tips. The art of packing – how to pack for 13 days in a regular backpack. Modern materials and packing for a wide range of temperatures. Avoiding jetlag.

113: Don’t be creepy

The Podcast — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 10:11:39 +0200

If you're a doctor or a lawyer, you have an ethical obligation to do the right thing for your patient or client. Why aren't software developers held to the same standard?

112: Pursuit of Essentialism

The Podcast — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 13:36:47 +0200

Today, we discuss the book Essentialism by Greg McKeown. The goal: designing a simpler, more focused life. Doing less, but better. Cutting down on what's "good", but not good enough.

111: Death to Paper

The Podcast — Tue, 12 Sep 2017 10:45:00 +0200

Michael explains how he uses Evernote. This was going to be a boring episode about note taking. Turns out, this is a powerful system that completely removes the need for storing paper. All of the 13,000 notes, documents, receipts, health records, are accessible and searchable anywhere. Whoa.

110: Non-Violent Communication

The Podcast — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 10:38:23 +0200

Today, we discuss Non-Violent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg: Resolving conflicts with other people, taking responsibility for your own life, finding empathy for yourself. PS. Apologies for being not one, but two weeks late!

109: Workflow to the rescue

The Podcast — Wed, 16 Aug 2017 16:30:10 +0200

Taking iOS automation up to eleven. Featuring: making Magic Spreadsheet work on iPhone using Workflow, smart checklists in Nozbe, journaling Workflows, Automator on the Mac, URL schemes, and finally… how Radek made an iPhone day planning app by stringing together two different apps with Workflow.

108: iPad Consultations

The Podcast — Tue, 08 Aug 2017 16:30:07 +0200

Michael teaches Radek how to be more productive on an iPad. Featuring: using Evernote (or Notes) as a temporary files storage, solving drag&drop issues with web apps, limitations of Dropbox, and putting it all together to make complex workflows easy.

107: Simplify everything

The Podcast — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 11:11:00 +0200

Habits, systems, and reminders are crucial, but it is possible to go too far and end up hoarding them. Every now and then, it's worth questioning which are really essential, and which no longer serve a purpose; what can be removed, simplified, automated, or delegated.

106: Combined Twitter&Instagram Moment

The Podcast — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 10:38:19 +0200

Part 2 of our discussion on reducing the cognitive load of notifications, and loosening the grip of social media addiction. We've made some changes and simplifications since the last episode and we have some pro tips to share!

105: Twitter detox

The Podcast — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 13:06:06 +0200

Discussion on distractions and addiction, and how that relates to software we use. We forgot how to be bored for even 30 seconds, and we fill even the smallest slices of our time by responding to notifications and with social media. Just so we can have our hit of dopamine.

104: A Guide to the Good Life

The Podcast — Wed, 12 Jul 2017 15:42:58 +0200

Part 2 of our discussion of Stoicism and the book "A Guide to the Good Life". Be sure to check out Part 1 first.

103: Stoicism

The Podcast — Sun, 02 Jul 2017 17:48:06 +0200

We discuss "A Guide to the Good Life", a modern, approachable introduction to Stoicism. A philosophy of life easy to dismiss as a boring piece of history not applicable to modern life, but in reality, a tremendously useful bag of psychological tricks that help you live a happier, calmer life.

102: iPad Only

The Podcast — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 17:58:22 +0200

Michael tries to sell Radek on the idea of using an iPad as your main (or only) computer. Radek remains skeptical, but buys the new iPad Pro anyway.

101: WWDC 2017

The Podcast — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 15:11:09 +0200

Radek and Michael comment on Apple's announcements on Worldwide Developers Conference this year. (This is our take on what's significant, and what's missing — we assume you already know the news)

100: Two years

The Podcast — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 20:47:55 +0200

This week, we're celebrating our one hundredth episode of The Podcast. Sharing the story of how this show came to be, how it evolved with us over time, and where its future lies.

99: Bring magic back

The Podcast — Mon, 29 May 2017 15:37:52 +0200

Our thoughts and wishes for Apple's WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) next week.

98: Stop Stealing Dreams

The Podcast — Tue, 23 May 2017 16:43:18 +0200

Continuing from last week, this is part two of our rant on the education system. We argue that it was fundamentally designed for a different era, designed to produce obedient workers, efficient at performing arbitrary tasks. Not necessarily to teach you the most about the world. And certainly not to teach people curiosity, independence, entrepreneurship — traits that are becoming increasingly more crucial in the new era.

97: Schooling

The Podcast — Thu, 18 May 2017 17:26:25 +0200

Part one of our rant on the education system. Our experiences are quite different: Michael had a great time in his 5 years of university; Radek never went to college at all. We both agree, though, that the way schooling is done is deeply flawed, outdated, and ineffective at teaching.

96: Working while traveling

The Podcast — Thu, 11 May 2017 09:47:17 +0200

At Nozbe, everyone works remotely. Usually that means, from home. But sometimes, we work even more remotely — while traveling. We share tips on how we pull this off, how to be productive while in such an imperfect work environment.

95: Living in the future

The Podcast — Thu, 04 May 2017 17:11:26 +0200

Future is already here, it's just not evenly distributed. It's fun, if sometimes frustrating, to live in the future — use the hardware, work, learn, and live like people will in the future.

94: Insanely Simple

The Podcast — Tue, 25 Apr 2017 19:23:55 +0200

Discussing simplicity, Steve Jobs, communication styles, empathy, and other thoughts from the book "Insanely Simple".

93: Dare to try

The Podcast — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 15:33:31 +0200

Why is studying productivity a worthwhile pursuit? Many people assume it's all useless — and much of it is! Like with dieting, it's a field filled with charlatans promising amazing results with barely any effort at all. Yet, underneath all the nonsense is wisdom to be discovered. Michael and Radek share their journey with productivity and explain why they got interested in it in the first place.

92: Fooled by Randomness

The Podcast — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 15:00:58 +0200

A random, rambly discussion about a rambly book on randomness.

91: Best city

The Podcast — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 14:33:56 +0200

Live from the twice-a-year Nozbe Reunion in Toruń!

90: Too risky

The Podcast — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 16:06:33 +0200

Feel free to skip this one, because this week we're breaking all the rules about not getting in trouble on the internet… to talk about politics. Yes, really.

89: Shutdown ritual

The Podcast — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 11:46:04 +0100

Idleness is good for the brain. After a day of hard, deep work, you ought to disconnect from work completely, shut it down, and recharge for the next day. Commit to this, work can wait. Radek shares a little habit he's developed to help maintain this work/life balance.

88: Solitude

The Podcast — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 16:24:12 +0100

Technology grab bag: Bose QC35 review, some thoughts on new iPad and iPhone rumors, and an update to Radek's MacBook Pro review

87: Sleep Smarter

The Podcast — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 09:41:06 +0100

Everyone knows that sleep is important (or so we hope), but it isn't just the quantity of sleep that matters, it's the quality of sleep as well. There's a ton of little factors that influence both how long and how well you sleep. On this episode, we'll be unpacking the most important ones we've learned from the book Sleep Smarter.

86: Perfect week

The Podcast — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 11:14:42 +0100

Michael Sliwinski shares a pro tip he learned from Michael Hyatt: how to design a template for your ideal week. A good routine is helpful for productivity.

85: Magic Spreadsheet

The Podcast — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 21:31:06 +0100

Rapid improvement (at anything!) requires a tight feedback loop. And for a feedback loop, you need… well, feedback — data. Radek had been tracking lots of such data (weight, habits, hours spent on different projects) in a big spreadsheet for almost 7 years. Michael just started recently. This week, we're discussing how we're doing it, and why.

84: From reading to doing

The Podcast — Wed, 15 Feb 2017 09:00:38 +0100

How do you turn reading into action? It's good to read lots of books, but if you're neglecting to actually apply the things you've learned to your life, then it's barely more than a form of intellectual entertainment.

83: 10 years of Nozbe special

The Podcast — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 17:23:24 +0100

This one's different. We're celebrating Nozbe's 10th birthday!

82: Planning 2017

The Podcast — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 17:18:28 +0100

A year of your life is precious. Instead of just going with the flow (and often, ending up nowhere), it's worth taking a deliberate approach to planning your year. Every year. Not "New Year's Resolutions", no. Those never work. An actual plan, with goals you can hold yourself accountable to. A plan you review every week.

81: Deliberate Practice

The Podcast — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 09:08:01 +0100

Real world examples of how we applied ideas from "Peak" in our lives to learn faster and better.

80: Peak

The Podcast — Tue, 17 Jan 2017 15:57:18 +0100

We're back from our winter break, and this week we're discussing the book Peak. We want to understand, on a deeper level, how people become good at what they do, and what's the best approach to learning. Peak offers important clues towards the answer. In fact, this book inspired both of us enough that we're incorporating its ideas into our plans for 2017.

79: Inevitable transition

The Podcast — Wed, 28 Dec 2016 13:34:44 +0100

Continuing our conversation from last week, we share some more thoughts about the future of Mac. (Hint: it's switching to the ARM architecture). This is our last episode of the year! We'll be back in two weeks.

78: Underwhelming Performance

The Podcast — Tue, 20 Dec 2016 09:24:31 +0100

Radek reviews the new MacBook Pro (with Touch Bar).

77: Ego is the enemy

The Podcast — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 18:08:29 +0100

At every stage of our lives, when we aspire, succeed, or fail, our ego is the enemy. It's too easy to fall into the trap of ego and start believing your own delusions and hubris, that you're smarter and better than you really are, that it's others that are at fault, that you've already learned all you have to learn. "Sure, other people do that, but not me", you might think to yourself — and yet that's exactly the thinking that leads towards this fate. We discuss how we felt reading Ryan Holiday's Ego is the Enemy, and some thoughts on avoiding the trap of ego.

76: Management by walking around

The Podcast — Tue, 06 Dec 2016 17:53:52 +0100

Discussing more unorthodox ideas about running a business from Under New Management. Trying to figure out why so many companies believe that open-space offices are a good thing. Discussing salary transparency — we're not doing it, but maybe we should?

75: Under New Management

The Podcast — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 18:12:40 +0100

The way today's companies are ran closely mimics the management methods of the industrial revolution era firms. But the realities of modern organizations — that rely mostly on knowledge and creative work — is very different. Just like the world has moved on from the industrial era, so should our management practices. This week, we discuss Under New Management by David Burkus.

74: Disrupted

The Podcast — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 18:46:32 +0100

Briefly reviewing Disrupted by Dan Lyons, and more generally discussing and criticizing the startup culture. A cautionary tale.

73: Quarterly Offsite

The Podcast — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 13:41:49 +0100

Personal Quarterly Offsite (or just "quarterly review") is your feedback loop for life. Every three months, you give a day to yourself to review your whole life, reflect deeply, learn from your mistakes, and make plans and decisions for the next quarter. Michael and Radek share why and how they do it, and some concrete conclusions from their Q3 reviews.

72: Accept your weakness

The Podcast — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 11:38:58 +0100

Continuing our discussion about morning routines, we talk about how we design our week to make productivity easy. Pro-Tip: Productivity becomes much simpler once you accept your weaknesses as a human being.

71: Friction Management

The Podcast — Thu, 03 Nov 2016 09:02:47 +0100

Radek shares some pro-tips and brain hacks he used to regain control over his morning routine. The first step is to wake up early and consistently, and that's hard. The second step is to get rid of the compulsive Twitter reading habit in the morning. And the third part is to actually remember to go to sleep early enough. All require the right system, not motivation or discipline.

70: People want to work

The Podcast — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 19:38:38 +0200

Live from this week's Nozbe Reunion, we review how the TGIF policy has been working for us in the past 10 weeks. Turns out, it's not so easy to make people work less. But we've learned a lot, we'll be tweaking the process a bit, and we'll keep doing it! Also, a teaser for the new Nozbe.HOW project we've been working on.

69: Sharing

The Podcast — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 13:39:18 +0200

Continuing our conversation last week, we're discussing how sharing, cooperation, and remixing are slowly changing our lifes and businesses.

68: The Inevitable

The Podcast — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 18:36:59 +0200

Discussing ideas from "The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future".

67: David and Goliath

The Podcast — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 13:32:08 +0200

We're continuing last week's discussion, and sharing ideas about how to thrive when your competition is bigger and stronger. As a small company, a tiny team, or an indie, you're a David, and to win with your Goliath, you ought to do things they don't, won't, or can't do. Instead of emulating a giant, play the game by your own rules. This, and a 86-second review of iPhone 7.

66: Guerrilla Development

The Podcast — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 16:06:39 +0200

One does not win a war against a vastly stronger enemy by going head to head against it. No, to have a chance of winning, you need to play a different game altogether, and turn your opponent's strengths into weaknesses. Warfare metaphors aside, it's also true for any company or project. To thrive in spite of strong competition, you need to play asymmetrically and instead of emulating them, do things they cannot do. This week, we share some thoughts and examples of how we try to do this at Nozbe.

65: Request for comments

The Podcast — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 09:43:43 +0200

At every company, communication overhead becomes a real sink for time and energy. And the larger you get, the greater the overhead. It's prudent to optimize how you communicate and collaborate, so you can get the biggest bang for your buck. Communicate only as much as you need to, not more, and get back to doing the work. That takes nuance, different tools for different jobs, and an appreciation of asynchronous work.

64: Garbage collection

The Podcast — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 14:40:00 +0200

There's no speed limit to how fast you can learn. But you can't just upload information into your brain either. To learn faster, it's important to understand the nature of how we remember things. This week we discuss the spaced repetition learning technique, how to take good book notes, and a vision for a book of the future.

63: Show me

The Podcast — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 18:42:16 +0200

Discussing insights from How to Fly a Horse. Everybody can be creative, but creative thinking doesn't exist. Creation is not inspiration, but iteration. It takes time, and lots of work. And you have to become comfortable with this. Brainstorming doesn't work, but feedback loops do. Confidence gives you power, but certainty makes you stuck. Question everything, but not too early. Instead, "Show me". Ahh, all the nuances! Lots of good stuff in this one, so please forgive us for Michael's poor audio quality.

62: Path to the end

The Podcast — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 15:24:22 +0200

Continuing our conversation about ideas and insights from Smarter Faster Better: discussing how team norms shape the way we work together, empathy, changing your mind quickly and often, copying, and remixing ideas.

61: Take the blame

The Podcast — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 17:06:10 +0200

Book corner! This week, we discuss ideas we learned from Charles Duhigg's newest book, Smarter Faster Better. Among others, we discuss why employers should get out the way of your employees, give them trust and responsibility; how you should make plans so you can achieve ambitious goals without getting stuck; a reminder about cognitive biases; and why you should always take the blame.

60: TGIF

The Podcast — Wed, 17 Aug 2016 17:03:28 +0200

Michael wants his employees to work less and still pay them the same. He might be crazy. We're implementing a new, experimental policy at Nozbe, where everyone works at full thrust from Monday through Thursday, and then on Friday, after a few meetings, and a mandatory Weekly Review, you can do whatever you want. We discuMichael wants his employees to work less and still pay them the same. He might be crazy. We're implementing a new, experimental policy at Nozbe, where everyone works at full thrust from Monday through Thursday, and then on Friday, after a few meetings, and a mandatory Weekly Review, you can do whatever you want. We discuss the motivation and implications of this.ss the motivation and implications of this.

59: Abolishing hierarchies

The Podcast — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 14:47:24 +0200

Thoughts on software design. What we do with user feedback, how we prioritize new features, teach users good habits through interface design, and try to strike a balance between "simple" and "powerful". Also a brief discussion about iOS 10.

58: Peer Mentoring

The Podcast — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 16:02:12 +0200

Michael explains what it means to him to mentor and be mentored. It's not what you might expect — not a master-student relationship, rather, it's about peers exchanging ideas and points of view. Teaching and being taught at the same time.

57: Discomfort routine

The Podcast — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 17:04:54 +0200

Radek started waking up so early, no one can believe this is even possible. (Isn't this weird that when we hit the snooze button, procrastination is literally the first thing we do in a day? How could that be a good thing?) Also a discussion about discomfort, stretching your limits, and sharing some brain hacks.

56: Thought leadering

The Podcast — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 11:40:04 +0200

Michael rethinks his strategy for blogging and spreading the word about #NoOffice. The plan: one solid blog post a week to blog his way to writing the NoOffice book.

55: Ten years from now

The Podcast — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 09:52:23 +0200

Answering common questions and criticisms about high book consumption. Why it doesn't matter how many books you read will you remember 10 years from now. Why having a lot of (often contradictory) mental models is crucial. Why it's important to have time to process and some tips on achieving it. Also a discussion about privacy and security, including the math behind differential privacy.

54: Forget the fireplace

The Podcast — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 17:03:03 +0200

There is no such thing as reading too many books. (Or if there is, it's certainly way above the 30 books per year rate both Michael and Radek find easy to achieve.) Each new book compliments the previous one, adding to your trove of knowledge, ideas, and insights. Each adds nuance, or shows contradictions, or a different point of view. And so we must reject this romantic but ultimately destructive notion that reading a book is a sacred ritual, that it must be done with a physical book, and studied thoroughly by the fireplace. If we want to grow wiser and learn, we must read a lot. It's a practical concern. And so we listen to audiobooks. A lot.

53: Originals

The Podcast — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 10:09:01 +0200

What does it take for individuals and organizations to be original and creative? Michael and Radek share their favorite bits from Originals — Adam Grant's newest book that tries to answer these very questions. We talk about why quantity vs quality is a false dichotomy, why procrastination is sometimes good, why we should share our ideas more often than we think is appropriate, how to avoid groupthink, and why being a defensive pessimist helps avoid mistakes.

52: 6 degrees of Elon Musk

The Podcast — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 22:26:42 +0200

Radek shares more of his experiences from the WWDC/San Francisco trip. More tips for attending conferences. About almost knowing Elon Musk, and why it's not worth being a jerk. And on connecting the dots.

51: WWDC 2016

The Podcast — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 17:01:48 +0200

Live from (surprisingly cold) California, Radek joins Michael to talk about the news from Apple on the Worldwide Developers Conference and how they affect us and Nozbe, our product.

50: Four Disciplines

The Podcast — Wed, 08 Jun 2016 16:55:50 +0200

Today, we discuss ideas from The 4 Disciplines of Execution — a book describing a system for achieving goals among the whirlwind of everyday life. Also: celebrating our 50th episode, Radek is going to WWDC, and basketball and rocket corners!

49: Zero sum game

The Podcast — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 16:23:22 +0200

This is such an important idea. We all know this, but few of us actually internalize this truth: The competition for our time and attention is a zero sum game. No matter how hard you try, a day is 24 hours long. We have to be brutal in refusing to do useful things so we can do the most important things. No matter how hard this is, there's no other way to be successful.

48: Three-point-three wave

The Podcast — Wed, 25 May 2016 17:18:49 +0200

Michael reviews The Third Wave (two homonymous books by Alvin Toffler and Steve Case). And Radek is going to San Francisco for Apple's WWDC conference. Nozbe: Works on Mars™ (or money back guaranteed). Your move, Elon Musk.

47: Quit social media

The Podcast — Wed, 18 May 2016 15:39:27 +0200

Your day is 24 hours long, and there's nothing you can do to change that. Which means, competition for your time and attention is a zero sum game. Doing one thing means you're not doing another. And some things are more valuable than others. It's not enough to be merely valuable. To achieve the most, you must cut down on things that are merely nice, and reinvest time in things that are essential. And so, quite honestly… why don't we just quit social media?

46: Deep Work

The Podcast — Wed, 11 May 2016 10:18:44 +0200

We live very distracted lives and most of our working days are filled with shallow tasks and interruptions. In this age when more and more jobs are being automated, we can get a competitive edge if we get good at performing deep work — important work at high levels of attention.

45: Tree of knowledge

The Podcast — Wed, 04 May 2016 17:54:37 +0200

More discussion about books! Remember: books are not a source of raw information, they are education and persuasion devices. The most compact forms of books are rarely those that make the most impact.

44: Productivity fudges

The Podcast — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 16:35:49 +0200

Michael and Radek have been to Warsaw on two awesome conferences last week. This episode, we're sharing some stories from that and celebrating the human touch in everyday interactions.

43: Not that smart

The Podcast — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 11:56:53 +0200

A story about our relationship with books. Truly, reading a lot has been a great investment and made us smarter, but it wasn't always easy for us. We had to change our approach to be able to read 20-30 books a year.

42: Bottom line

The Podcast — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 16:04:11 +0200

The value of focus is hard to measure. But why spend your time doing something on your own just because you can, when you can get it off the shelf and focus on what makes your company unique? Perhaps this is obvious, but we continue to catch ourselves thinking the overly frugal way.

41: Never grow up

The Podcast — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 12:28:47 +0200

You don't need an office, or presence in Silicon Valley, or big VC money to start and sustain a company. To create something interesting, to make a dent in your customers' lives. And when did "lifestyle business" become an insult, anyway? This week, we gossip a bit about our competition ;)

40: Overcollaboration is dangerous

The Podcast — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 17:00:27 +0200

Being a small company is great. Everyone knows everyone, there's just one team, no secrets, and it all makes for a pleasant environment to work in. But to be a small company and still achieve great things, you have to be efficient and brutally selective about what you say "yes" to.

39: Make Nozbe Great Again

The Podcast — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 20:02:34 +0100

This one is special. We're recording live from a hotel room on the semi-annual Nozbe Reunion. With live audience, the marketing team Periscoping us, and Michael finally got a proper mic! This week, we're talking about improving ourselves and our company, about feedback loops, about honest feedback, and about re-learning constraints so we can focus our work on things that actually matter.

38: Rules of the game

The Podcast — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 09:41:11 +0100

Third month into the year, it's time to look back on the progress we've made on our yearly goals. Hint: only a fool keeps doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. It's not just about pushing yourself harder — when you don't succeed with your goals, change the approach.

37: Batch that frog

The Podcast — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 20:02:49 +0100

Most communication in companies should happen asynchronously. How can anyone get anything done when everyone is constantly distracted? That, and: 1) Batching related or small tasks 2) Mark your most important tasks as Frogs and filter based on that 3) Finding focus when working on a larger project 4) And more pro tips ;)

36: Weekly rhythm therapy

The Podcast — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 21:32:55 +0100

Wearing more than one hat makes planning work across the week (and from week to week) hard. Here's how we try to do it, and keep often conflicting priorities balanced and in check.

35: You tried to be funny

The Podcast — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 19:40:11 +0100

Radek made people angry on the internet and Michael tried to be funny. The insights you gain by reading lots of books. More stuff about nutrition. (Why isn't there consensus about this?) Michael's successes with his morning routine. Weekly weigh-in. Milk. iTunes reviews. 10 seconds of space corner. Follow-up and a grab bag of small topics.

34: Wake up and smell the coffee

The Podcast — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 17:23:02 +0100

33: Monkey brain optimization

The Podcast — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 11:20:31 +0100

Some things are bad, but provide instant gratification. Some things are good, but don't. If you want to create better habits, you have to create an environment where doing the right thing is as effortless as possible. You have to optimize and work around your monkey brain's weaknesses. (Why Radek signed up for a gym, strategies for making this stick, social running, weekly review as a habit, and morning routines.)

32: How to get fat

The Podcast — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:37:35 +0100

Radek read "Why We Get Fat" and now his 20kg weight loss makes a whole lot more sense to him. Michael just nods along.

31: Topic selection problem

The Podcast — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 18:16:52 +0100

9th birthday of Nozbe = version 3.0 + new logo + new design + tears of joy. That topic that was going to be today? Well, it will have to wait another week.

30: More research required

The Podcast — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 11:02:20 +0100

SpaceX corner, and a bunch of follow-up on making, reviewing, and achieving goals. (And journaling, and weight loss...) Plus a sneak peak into Nozbe 3.0.

29: Bound to happen

The Podcast — Wed, 13 Jan 2016 10:28:23 +0100

2015 in review and how NOT to make New Year's resolutions.

28: Empty intellectual calories

The Podcast — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 11:40:54 +0100

Radek signed up for a gym. And he doesn't like gifts. And USB causes radio interference. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!

27: It's like flossing!

The Podcast — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 16:32:04 +0100

Why you should be doing Weekly Review, a scheduled meeting with yourself. (It's like flossing!) Also: ergonomics follow-up, RF corner, and the first edition of Hosts' Picks.

26: Punishment for naming sins

The Podcast — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 18:13:50 +0100

Micheal bought a Tesla! Well, one unit of TSLA stock. Still! Continuing our conversation on workspace ergonomics (chairs, desks, and working while standing). Some philosophizing on buying only the best. And what we've learned after half a year of podcasting!

25: Vote of confidence

The Podcast — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 10:48:38 +0100

A random bag of topics: landing rockets, Black Friday, tech Thanksgiving, WiFi corner, Tokyo, ergonomic keyboards, pricing models.

24: Four-version pipeline

The Podcast — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 11:51:57 +0100

Radek's trip to London, going #iPadOnly, navigating with an Apple Watch, internal Android—iOS competition at Nozbe, iPad Pro, Nozbe public templates, and why we can't ship an iOS update.

23: Crazy times

The Podcast — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 11:09:41 +0100

More Apple Watch use cases, noise-cancelling headphones, Michael's new level of internet fame, Nozbe templates… Earthquakes, armed robberies, and the iPad Pro. Crazy times indeed.

22: Marginally useful

The Podcast — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 12:26:29 +0100

Answering listener questions (what would happen if our team was spread across many time zones far apart?). Design thinking behind the new Nozbe Complication. Questioning (again!) whether or not Apple Watch is a useful and compelling device to have. Fun fact: the chances of getting struck by an asteroid are 1 in 200 000

21: Segues

The Podcast — Wed, 04 Nov 2015 17:46:45 +0100

WiFi issues (episode 666), Michael's trip to the UK, Tesla, Elon Musk, Hello Internet podcast and Starbucks hotstoppers (or lack thereof), virtual-turn-real friendships, automation in Nozbe dev team, the pain of fresh iOS and El Capitan installations, Nozbe's upcoming redesign in version 2.5, and Apple Watch complications. Full of smooth segues and unsophisticated cliffhangers.

20: Why complaining is important

The Podcast — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 16:33:16 +0100

Following up from the last episode, we discuss why it's important to complain, have strong opinions weakly held, and why we sometimes design things to be harder to use (for a greater good).

19: You have to fight

The Podcast — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 14:54:19 +0200

More tools and meetings we use at Nozbe to collaborate and organize ourselves. In this episode: company wiki, Dropbox, version planning meeting, and the Design Fight. Warning: high content of Michael's enthusiasm ("we love each other, we love this meeting, we love being prepared for it")

18: Meetings don't have to be toxic

The Podcast — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 18:20:19 +0200

Let's face it: most meetings suck. Meetings can be a useful tool for collaboration, but they have to be done right. This week we explore how we used to suck at meetings, and how we changed them over time to be more useful.

17: Tools for remote work

The Podcast — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 16:02:44 +0200

Part two of our "how we work" series. This week, we talk tools: software we use to communicate, collaborate, and organize ourselves. We also go into detail of how we use those tools (including our own). Spoiler alert: email isn't one of them.

16: I can literally touch you

The Podcast — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 17:34:01 +0200

Recording live from a company reunion, Michael and Radek discuss what they've learned over the past week and how that will influence their product in the upcoming months.

15: Not only for introverts

The Podcast — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 10:37:56 +0200

We get back to discussing productivity and how we do our work. Michael explains why he got into working from home and argues that more companies should adopt it. Turns out, you don't have to be introverted to enjoy remote work.

14: Way too many iPads

The Podcast — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 11:50:24 +0200

Michael has 5 iPads (seriously!) and treats them as work devices. Radek thinks that's crazy. Will iPad Pro change how people work?

13: Dark corners of Palo Alto and Cupertino

The Podcast — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 23:22:10 +0200

Tesla Model X and Model 3. How Tesla is (not) disrupting car sales. Some speculation on Apple's September 9 event (which has already happened by now). More grumbling about iOS bugs (and our own).

12: Don't sacrifice life over space projects

The Podcast — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 11:41:33 +0200

More thoughts on transportation, EV-s, autonomous cars. The work-life imbalance of Elon Musk. Brief digression on rockets and space exploration.

11: The Elon Musk Show

The Podcast — Wed, 26 Aug 2015 10:25:34 +0200

Thoughts on Elon Musk, Tesla, Uber, and the future of transportation.

10: The incentives are aligned

The Podcast — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 16:41:36 +0200

Follow-up on productivity, Michael's blog post templates, organizing your thoughts with journaling, hate mail, and how business models influence work environment.

9: I need to lower your salary

The Podcast — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 12:05:28 +0200

Radek reveals the limits of his productivity to his boss.

8: Accidental Lego Podcast

The Podcast — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 13:29:33 +0200

Michael starts his day with a 50+ km bike ride and has an Amazon Prime problem. Radek beats his distance the same day and comes out of the closet as an adult fan of LEGO.

7: Too cool for an intro

The Podcast — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 16:05:46 +0200

More grumbling about iDevice memory sizes, iOS adoption rates, discussion ideas for improvements of The Podcast and how to do reunions of remote companies. Oh and Radek removed Twitter from his phone (really).

6: Unschedule your day

The Podcast — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 21:37:58 +0200

Life with the Apple Watch, interruptive spaces, and the Pomodoro Technique.

5: That’s how you treat them?!

The Podcast — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 11:04:27 +0200

A brief digression turned into half an hour of ranting about why open space offices suck and why remote work is awesome

4: The content is entertaining enough

The Podcast — Fri, 10 Jul 2015 10:34:37 +0200

Reflecting on our previous episodes, then discussing how we're trying to get better at writing, running, photography by finding consistency.

3: Personal blogs will drown in here

The Podcast — Fri, 03 Jul 2015 16:06:25 +0200

Thoughts on digital publishing — Apple News, Newsstand, Flipboard, RSS, and Remag.

2: Two Apple Watches that don’t belong to us

The Podcast — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 16:15:05 +0200

A few thoughts on Apple Watch, how iOS adoption rate impacts us, and what we didn't get on WWDC.

1: Introduction

The Podcast — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 11:32:42 +0200

Michael and Radek say hi, then discuss WWDC news, how it affects our products and other 3rd party developers