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.
That in-between stretch of days...
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Hello Reader, We're in that strange little pocket of time that shows up every year. Somewhere between December 25 and January 1, the usual markers blur. You check the calendar and still aren’t quite sure what day it is. Monday feels like Saturday. Saturday feels like… nothing in particular. It’s easy to rush past this stretch—to treat it as filler before the “real” year begins. But this in-between space has a quiet gift. When the usual cadence loosens, so does our grip on certainty. And in that looseness, there’s room to notice things we’ve set aside: ideas that never quite fit before, questions we didn’t have time to ask, curiosities we postponed because everything felt too full. Ambiguity gets a bad rap. But here, it can be gentle. Hospitable, even. A place where reflection doesn’t have to turn into resolution just yet. If the days feel a little unmoored right now, you’re not behind. You might actually be exactly where you need to be. Let yourself wander a bit. This stretch doesn’t need to be optimized. It just needs to be noticed. See you later, P.S. On December 31, I’ll be hosting a 12 Tips of TimeCrafting livestream—an end-of-year gathering focused on clarity, not correction. You can visit this link now and click the bell to get notified when it goes live (or watch the replay later if that suits you better). |
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.
The Lantern by Mike Vardy Vol. 1, Issue 44 | December 27, 2025 Hello Reader, There’s a particular sound that shows up at the end of a year. It isn’t bells or carols. It isn’t noise. It’s quieter than that. It sounds like a song you’ve heard a hundred times suddenly landing differently. Like listening to Time by Pink Floyd and realizing the clock in the background isn’t theatrical anymore—it’s personal. Or hearing Dreamer by Supertramp and recognizing that the dream being sung about feels...
Hello Reader, Yesterday I noticed something about the jade plant on my study's deep window sill. It’s been in the same pot for a long time. I water it on a steady cadence. I make sure it gets light. And yet—it looks exactly the same. No new leaves. No visible growth. Just… alive. It struck me that this is exactly what this week is for. With Christmas only a few days away, and the calendar folding in on itself, this isn’t a week for expansion. It’s not a week for reinvention or big pushes or...
The Lantern by Mike Vardy Vol. 1, Issue 43 | December 20, 2025 Hello Reader, There are moments when a line lands in your mind with the weight of something you didn’t realize you’d been carrying. A sentence, a phrase, an image that turns out to be a pressure valve — releasing something that’s been quietly building. That happened to me this past Sunday morning. I was in the middle of a working session, the kind that starts slow and honest before the rest of the day wakes up. And out of nowhere,...