Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done
by Mark Steadman
Latest episode
Congrats, you’re burned out! Here’s what to do next
Congrats, you’re burned out! Here’s what to do next
About this podcast
An investigation into how history’s oddballs, outliers, and overachievers built systems to help them do their best work.
Each episode unearths a so-called productivity hack from history to help you separate the brilliant from the bullshit, so you can build a methodology that works for you.
Productivity isn’t about getting more done to feed a money-seeking monster with an ever-growing appetite. It’s about clearing the clutter so you can focus on what you do best.
Because if Edison can invent the lightbulb without Inbox Zero, you can probably survive without 10x-ing your toothbrush routine.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 24 episodes
- Congrats, you’re burned out! Here’s what to do next · 23 min · Episode 23Burnout is something that affects neurotypicals and neurospicies alike, so today we’re going to find out what it looks like so you can spot it whether it’s in the distance or…
- You aren’t lazy; you’re fighting a broken system – Ignacio Martín-Baró · 23 min · Episode 22Modern work pressures call for some radical resistance, and we’re going to look for it where resistance is needed most: the frontline battle against oppression. Check out our…
- “Busy is the New Stupid” – What does Warren Buffett know about real work? · 21 min · Episode 21Is 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…
- How to remember everything — Tiago Forte and his Second Brain · 26 min · Episode 20We 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.
- How to build a car or plan a wedding using Kanban · 19 min · Episode 19We can learn a lot from the world of manufacture and bring it into the work that we do.
- Why giving less than 100% is better for your health · 17 min · Episode 18The whip-cracking "give it all you got" business bro bullshit isn’t just insensitive – it’s actually wrong.
- Buckminster Fuller and the system of You · 20 min · Episode 17Modern work needs a more modern approach than Taylorism's simple "one right way". Enter systems theory, and one of its greatest proponents.
- What Sherlock Holmes can teach us about productivity and our brains · 24 min · Episode 16He’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…
- How to stick to it when the novelty wears off – Atomic Habits · 26 min · Episode 15Could 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?
- How to turn your side hustle into your main gig – “The One Thing” · 27 min · Episode 14While 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.
- 20% of your effort makes up 80% of your success — The Pareto principle · 25 min · Episode 13How 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.
- How to be a polymath – Leonardo da Vinci · 23 min · Episode 12Being 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…
- The super-productive women missing from time management history · 21 min · Episode 11Let’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.
- How Ben Franklin used timeboxing to stop missing deadlines · 21 min · Episode 10If 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…
- What happened to the Inbox Zero guy? · 26 min · Episode 9Inbox 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…
- How to make fewer mistakes – The Checklist Manifesto · 23 min · Episode 8Simple 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…
- How to work when the sky’s caving in — Lincoln vs Churchill · 26 min · Episode 7When 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…
- Bullet Journal – Productive or performative? · 20 min · Episode 6Can 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…
- How to get into the zone — Flow · 19 min · Episode 5Time 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…
- The tomato of productivity – the Pomodoro Technique · 18 min · Episode 4It’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?
