I’m Mike Vardy, and I help people build a better relationship with time — not by controlling it, but by working with it. Through my writing, courses, and community, I explore how intention and attention shape a more meaningful life — one rooted in the original idea of productiveness over productivity.
A calmer way to move through these last December days...
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Hello Reader, We’re deep into the holiday stretch now—the week where days blur, obligations multiply, and your calendar starts behaving like it has a mind of its own. This is the point in December when most people try to push a little harder. But that usually leads to the opposite of what we’re hoping for: more friction, more fatigue, less presence. There’s a gentler way through this week. It starts with a single question: “What kind of day is this?” Not emotionally. Structurally. Because each day has its own natural capacity—especially this time of year. That’s where Parity Theming comes in. Parity Theming is a form of Time Theming inside TimeCrafting. Instead of treating every day as interchangeable, you assign odd and even days (or weeks, or months) different roles. Not hierarchical. Not rigid. Just intentionally different. For example:
Or:
This alternation removes a subtle but heavy decision: “What mode am I supposed to be in today?” During a chaotic week like this, that clarity is a gift. Parity Theming gives you a rhythm to meet the season as it is—not as you wish it were. It softens the sense of scrambling. It reduces the self-imposed pressure to be “on” in every direction at once. And it makes the days ahead feel less like a gauntlet and more like something you can move through with intention. We don’t get extra days this time of year. But we can choose a better rhythm inside the ones we have. See you later, P.S. If this idea speaks to you, it’s one of many layers inside The Productivity Diet—a book built to help you work with your time in a way that’s sustainable, humane, and far more aligned with who you want to be. You can pick up a copy here. (It also makes a great last minute gift!) |
The Practice of Productiveness
I’m Mike Vardy, and I help people build a better relationship with time — not by controlling it, but by working with it. Through my writing, courses, and community, I explore how intention and attention shape a more meaningful life — one rooted in the original idea of productiveness over productivity.
Hello Reader, I’ve been thinking about It’s a Wonderful Life again. Partly because it’s December—and we’re deep enough into it now that the shine has worn off. Partly because I recently listened to an episode of the What Went Wrong? podcast that unpacked how that film almost didn’t survive—and why it still endures. What stayed with me wasn’t the trivia. It was the reminder beneath it all. George Bailey doesn’t get a new life. He gets the same life back—just seen differently. That matters....
The Lantern by Mike Vardy Vol. 1, Issue 42 | December 13, 2025 Hello Reader, Lately I’ve been noticing how easy it is to look like you’re working without actually working. The little signals we send — green dots, busy calendars, quick replies, bodies in rooms — can all stand in for real engagement. It’s productivity as performance, a kind of low-grade theatre we’ve all learned to act in. But when the performance starts replacing the purpose, something slips. The day fills up while the work...
Hello Reader, We’re about to step into that strange pocket of the year—the final non-holiday week of 2025. The one that looks tidy on the calendar but rarely behaves. It’s a week that tends to ask more of us than it has any right to: wrapping up projects, closing loops, tying bows, attending gatherings, showing up for others, showing up for ourselves, and preparing for the holidays… all at once. It’s the week where the world turns inhuman—deadlines tighten, calendars crowd, and expectations...