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.
If This Season Feels Heavy
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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. Because by this point in December, most of us aren’t walking around feeling like our lives are “wonderful.” We feel stretched. A little frayed. Sometimes small. And this season has a way of quietly amplifying all of that. But wonder isn’t the same thing as wonderful. Wonderful is polished. Wonder is practical. It lives in the margins—the small rituals, familiar faces, quiet moments that don’t announce themselves as important. When you notice even one of those, something shifts. Not because everything changes, but because your relationship with time softens. You stop measuring your life and start experiencing it. So if December feels heavy—or rushed, or oddly flat—you could try this: Look for one moment of wonder today. Nothing grand. Just real. A passing kindness. A line you overhear. Light doing something unexpected. It won’t fix everything. But it might remind you that your life—this one—is fuller than it feels. See you later, P.S. If this way of noticing resonates, The 12 Days of TimeCrafting is designed for exactly this moment in the year. One small offering at a time—no pressure to keep up—just simple ideas to help you finish the year with a little more clarity, calm, and wonder than you started it. Click here to learn more and sign up. |
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, 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...
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...