Focused

111
Careers #58

David Sparks and Mike Schmitz are not nearly as productive as they’d like to be. Join these fellow travelers (and a bunch of special guests) as they share the best ways to get focused, and talk through their successes and failures along the way. Hosted by David Sparks and Mike Schmitz.

Recent Mentions
Recent Episodes
  • 206: Rapt
    Jun 18, 2024 – 01:23:23
  • 205: Tasks & Calendars
    Jun 4, 2024 – 01:11:48
  • 204: Analog Productivity, with Jeff Sheldon
    May 21, 2024 – 01:22:19
  • 203: The Little Lies You Tell Yourself, with Jason Snell
    May 7, 2024 – 01:23:47
  • 202: Slow Productivity
    Apr 23, 2024 – 01:16:01
  • 201: What to Do When Things Don't Go Your Way, with Haemin Sunim
    Apr 9, 2024 – 01:11:15
  • 200: Favorite Productivity Hacks
    Mar 26, 2024 – 01:02:47
  • 199: Repotting & Retirement, with Jim Eager
    Mar 12, 2024 – 01:30:09
  • 198: Revisiting Journaling
    Feb 27, 2024 – 01:33:45
  • 197: Feel Good Productivity
    Feb 13, 2024 – 01:26:10
  • 196: Focus & The Reading Life, with Maryanne Wolf
    Jan 30, 2024 – 01:18:55
  • 195: The Productivity Field Guide
    Jan 16, 2024 – 01:09:50
  • 194: I'd Like to Take a Mulligan
    Jan 2, 2024 – 01:04:28
  • 193: The Problem with Mise en Place, with Justin Khanna
    Dec 19, 2023 – 01:17:23
  • 192: Flow State
    Dec 5, 2023 – 01:08:47
  • 191: Multi-Scale Planning
    Nov 21, 2023 – 01:25:40
  • 190: Overdosing on Gratitude, with Karl Staib
    Nov 7, 2023 – 01:18:21
  • 189: Focus & AI
    Oct 24, 2023 – 01:34:16
  • 188: Q4 Planning & The PKM Stack
    Oct 10, 2023 – 01:23:00
  • 187: Drop Zones & Launch Pads, with Jesse J. Anderson
    Sep 26, 2023 – 01:21:37
  • 186: The Burden of Opportunity, with Shawn Blanc
    Sep 12, 2023 – 01:20:25
  • 185: How to Be Miserable
    Aug 29, 2023 – 01:24:26
  • 184: Solving Problems, with Jay Clouse
    Aug 15, 2023 – 01:08:13
  • 183: Practicing Focus
    Aug 1, 2023 – 01:20:50
  • 182: Building Focused Flywheels, with Nathan Barry
    Jul 18, 2023 – 01:16:26
  • 181: Walking Your Own Path, with Justin Moore
    Jul 4, 2023 – 01:26:57
  • 180: A Focused Hodgepodge
    Jun 20, 2023 – 01:17:46
  • 179: Ideal Weeks
    Jun 7, 2023 – 01:12:23
  • 178: Mike's Big Adventure
    May 23, 2023 – 01:16:21
  • 177: The Care and Feeding of Technology, with Mike Rohde
    May 9, 2023 – 01:29:24
  • 176: Doing Less
    Apr 25, 2023 – 01:18:14
  • 175: The To-Don't List
    Apr 12, 2023 – 01:12:07
  • 174: Deep Work, with Cal Newport
    Mar 28, 2023 – 01:11:59
  • 173: Life Has Lifed You, with Mark Metzger
    Mar 14, 2023 – 01:15:08
  • 172: Journaling & Focus
    Feb 28, 2023 – 01:24:00
  • 171: Communication & Focus
    Feb 14, 2023 – 01:27:01
  • 170: Holistic Productivity, with Tim Stringer
    Jan 31, 2023 – 01:25:48
  • 169: How to Calm Your Mind, with Chris Bailey
    Jan 17, 2023 – 01:23:52
  • 168: 2023 Focus Resolutions
    Jan 3, 2023 – 01:04:07
  • 167: 2022 Year in Review
    Dec 20, 2022 – 01:01:18
  • 166: The Social Dilemma
    Dec 6, 2022 – 01:11:55
  • 165: On the River, with Chris Upchurch
    Nov 22, 2022 – 01:18:52
  • 164: Mind Mapping
    Nov 8, 2022 – 01:10:57
  • 163: The Laws of Creativity, with Joey Cofone
    Oct 25, 2022 – 01:01:51
  • 162: Perfectionism
    Oct 11, 2022 – 01:04:00
  • 161: Stolen Focus, with Jean MacDonald
    Sep 27, 2022 – 01:22:22
  • 160: Balancing Calendars and Tasks
    Sep 13, 2022 – 01:18:21
  • 159: The Art of Note-Taking
    Aug 30, 2022 – 01:07:03
  • 158: Humans First, with Rob Krecak
    Aug 16, 2022 – 01:23:53
  • 157: Non-Traditional Measures of Productivity, with Mike Vardy
    Aug 2, 2022 – 01:29:02
Recent Reviews
  • Mridu Parikh
    Thoughtful conversations!
    Mike and David ask thoughtful questions and have meaningful conversations around focus and productivity which is a refreshing change from basic hacks and tips. Highly recommend!
  • malfoxley
    Great show!
    The hosts highlight all aspects of success and more in this can’t miss podcast! The hosts and expert guests offer insightful advice and information that is helpful to anyone that listens!
  • Sylmar CA
    Good stuff
    David Sparks does it again! I am a long-time listener of one of his other podcasts, MPU. I only recently discovered Focused and I’m really enjoying the thoughtful, well-organized content here.
  • EngageOnFire
    A great show with two great hosts.
    Always informative!
  • CarpathiaXenos
    Slow and deliberate in a noisy world...
    This show is a slow, quiet, and thoughtful look at productivity. There’s no glitz and hype here. Simple conversions that slow the listener down enough to actually get you thinking. Keep up the great work guys!
  • ryandonsullivan
    Measured but not boring
    I really enjoy how David and Mike talk about Focus and productivity in a way that makes it a life integration as opposed to life hacks and quick fixes. True change and improvement happens over time and it’s nice to listen to a podcast based on that central idea.
  • cswahlbrink
    Love this show
    I enjoy the ideas these guys bring to the table. I typically feel very inspired after each Ep.
  • Maxbender
    Nothing here
    This show makes me think there could be demand for a podcast about doing laundry.
  • J. Barshop
    Invaluable content 🙏
    David, Mike and their amazing guests share tips and actionable takeaways on how to prioritize, systematize and stay focused on what matters most. Highly recommend listening and subscribing to Focused if you want the knowledge AND mindsets to not just get more done, but be more intentional about how you do so (and reach all of your overall goals as a result)!
  • WebGuy9402
    Great ideas but could use tightening
    I agree with all the positives said here…but there are too many metaphors! Just give me the ideas and how you’re implementing them.
  • JessMcGeeRD
    Mike Schmitz!
    Just discovered this podcast after being bummed Mike is no longer the host/moderator if the productivity show. His communication style and ability to relate to people was so compelling and I’m happy to find him here!
  • IndigoPapersnob
    Let David talk
    I feel like I gave the new guy a chance after Jason left. He cuts David off and mansplans EVERYTHING. Plus brings up religion way every few minutes. No longer a show for me.
  • Jennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
    Indispensable for the self-employed.
    This is such a great show, and has helped me so much in my transition to becoming self-employed. These guys are entertaining, and they know their stuff. As with all Relay.fm podcasts, the audio is top-notch.
  • Shockwave562
    Another winner from David Sparks
    I've been hooked on MPU for some time and I was exicted when he announced this show as I was already in the middle of planning to go freelance myself. The first several episodes have been great so far and I am looking forward to what David and Jason have in store for us this year. Things seem to be just kicking off so it's a good time to start listening!
  • WR Law
    Helpful and encouraging
    I'm a newly indepedent freelancer. This podcast came out at the perfect time for me. Free Agents is consistently interesting, helpful and encouraging. Always a joy to see a new episode appear.
  • RobbieGB
    Waste of my time
    This is another one of those podcasts where the hosts think no matter what they ramble on about people will like to listen to them. It seems unprepared and unprofessional. I like David's voice but Jason is hard to listen to--doesn't seem prepared and rambles on without sounding polished. I guess he's trying to sound natural but it's naturally annoying to me. Save it for the personal journal of your life and home movies.
  • JH Fischer
    Two Great Hosts
    Only two episodes in, but I think this podcast will be a winner. Hosted by Jason Snell (whom I enjoy doing The Incomparable podcast and the Game of Thrones and Doctor Who recaps on the TeeVee podcast) and David Sparks (of the long-running Mac Power Users podcast), Free Agents focuses on aspects of being self-employed. While one might think the audience is pretty narrow for that topic, I've found that the advice they've been dishing out in the first two episodes to be applicable in a wide variety of tasks. Like many who work for The Man, I have discretion over how I spend my time and, for example, the idea of having a routine (episode 2) hits home for me. People with day jobs who try to juggle home life with, say, writing the Great American Novel would also benefit from Jason and David's thoughts. Whether these two guys can sustain their promise to keep the podcast under 30 minutes remains to be seen, but I like the short format and want to hear more.
  • JAGibbs
    More navel gazing
    I like Jason and David. They are talented and their other podcasts are wonderful. This podcast highlights a problem with the Relay network - a problem that used to plague 5by5. The network fosters a clique of particular people and then they just create an insestuous array of shows where hosts mix and match. The end result is an echo chamber. Furthermore, the network's founders have been obsessed with the meta-topic of independent business. During Relay's first two years, listeners have heard Jason, Mike, Stephen, and others constantly navel gaze about their independent career. I do not think people buy newspapers to read about how the newspaper is made or how difficult it is to make. You don't hear John Gruber talking on his show about being independent - he just does his thing. This show is the embodiment of these issues and I do not plan to listen.
  • Dave Stachowiak
    Looking forward to more!
    Great first episode Jason and David -- on a topic that isn't covered as much as it should be. Looking forward to what you have in store for us!
  • Appreciative in Memphis
    A New Podcast with Familiar Faces
    I am looking forward to following this show. David and Jason bring so much experience and practical application to their other shows. They have done a good job with the structure and length of the show. I hope it will catch on soon, and begin gathering a large audience. We need more experienced guys sharing their expertise and advice in a likeable and knowledgeable manner. Listen to this show! and write your own review.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork on this page are property of the podcast owner, and not endorsed by UP.audio.