Back to Work

TOPIC: Preparation

This week, Dan and Merlin talk about preparation.

Links for this episode:

• [SPONSOR] Stock Photos, Royalty-Free Images and Vectors - Shutterstock
  Over 30 million stock photos, illu…

TOPIC: Traveling Like a Gentleman.

This week, Dan and Merlin revisit the travails of air travel. How to prepare, how to survive--and how to be a better and more mindful person along the way.

Also, …

TOPIC: Learning the Wheres and Whens of Productivity

This week, Dan and Merlin talk about learning from how you work to improve your basic productivity infrastructure, with specific attention to usi…

TOPIC: Special Guest, Matt Alexander

This week, Merlin is joined by Bionic co-host, Matt Alexander. They discuss ““technology ecosystems,”” life as a self-described trans-atlantic, tech scenes that …

TOPIC: Grab Bag, plus Tasks vs. Calendar Items

This week Dan and Merlin administer an epic grab bag episode, chockablock with new app, book, podcast, and music suggestions.

Also, a return to the ev…

TOPIC: Informal Background Self-Quantization

This week Dan & Merlin discuss the merits of self-quantization. Which is fancy way of saying, "Merlin got a new Fitbit."

Why is anecdotal self-reporting…

TOPIC: Etiquette, Intros, and Endorsements

This week, Dan and Merlin talk about the surprisingly complicated topic of email introductions.

Who emails whom? Who gets cc'd and for how long? How much …

TOPIC: Fear of Your Own TODO List

This week, Dan and Merlin cover a topic suggested by listener, @jeff_nordstedt: not wanting to look at your todo list.

From capture to completion, there are a mill…

TOPIC: Joss Whedon GTD; Meeting Redux

This week, Dan and Merlin talk about getting specific with your productivity and why every meeting needs an agenda.

Now, take a drink.

Links for this episode:

• …

TOPIC: Talk Shows, Baseball, and Inboxes.

This week, Dan and Merlin cover a range of topics related to expertise, experience, professional repetition, and management, culminating in a tour of Merlin…

TOPIC: How many keys do you really need?

This week, Dan and Merlin return to the question, "What do you want ten times more of?" and weigh the risks and benefits of increasing the amount of complexi…

TOPIC: Fraud vs. Failure

This week, Dan and Merlin dive into what makes us feel like frauds and what makes us feel like failures.

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• Batma…

TOPIC: Power, Yelling, and Airport Kung Fu

This week, Dan and Merlin continue their discussion of power and how it does or doesn't work.

Do real leaders actually talk like the douchebags, serial en…

TOPIC: Delays

This week, Dan and Merlin talk about delays, agency, power, and why yelling at people about your problems rarely helps anyone.

Links for this episode:

• Yad - Wikipedia, the free encyclo…

TOPIC: Lists

This week, Dan and Merlin talk about 3½ kinds of lists that can change your game.

Merlin knows a lot about Productivity.

Links for this episode:

• Interstate (typeface) - Wikipedia, the …

TOPIC: Time Awareness & Scope Wormholes

This week, Dan and Merlin talk about why we (and Frank) are terrible at estimating time, as well as what we can do to get better at it.

Links for this episod…

TOPIC: Employers, Bosses, Leaders, and Managers

This week—in what may easily turn into a multi-episode arc—Dan and Merlin talk about bosses.

Whether we're looking at it from up or down, management …

TOPIC: How many Saturdays do you get?

This week, Dan and Merlin talk about time. Its scarcity, its passing, its tyranny, and its possibilities.

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• [SPONSOR] Drafts - Agile Torto…

TOPIC: There are Only Two Prices: Free and What It Costs

This week, Dan and Merlin return to the classic lineup and some classic topics, including knowing your value, learning what to charge, and re…

TOPIC: The Chinese Symbol for 'Pants' Inside of The Chinese Symbol for 'Jury Duty.'

This week, Dan's away, so Merlin goes solo, taking a break from jury duty to talk about the opportunities that can…