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.
What's Your Procrastination Persona?
|
Hello Reader, Did you know that we’re smack dab in the middle of National Procrastination Week as I send you this? Indeed, this week serves as a timely reminder that none of us are immune to the allure of procrastination. Interestingly, the term ‘procrastination’ originates from the Latin ‘procrastinare’, which literally means ‘to defer until tomorrow’. Historically, this wasn’t always seen in a negative light; it was simply part of planning and prudent delay. However, over time, the concept of procrastination changed. Maybe ‘tomorrow’ became too vague, too undefined, leading procrastination to morph into the often negative connotation it holds today? No one really knows how this shift in procrastination’s reputation happened. But it’s crucial to remember, not all procrastination is detrimental. In fact, understanding your unique approach to procrastination can unveil powerful insights into how you work best. This is why I’ve crafted a short quiz to help you discover "Your Procrastination Persona." It’s free, quick, and not only illuminates your procrastination style but also offers a fun peek into your productivity character. As we make our way through a week that explores procrastination further, here’s to embracing and understanding our procrastination – turning what may seem like a flaw into our superpower. See you later, P.S. Listen to Nir Eyal's insights into the misunderstood world of distractions complement our exploration of procrastination on this recent episode of A Productive Conversation. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, my YouTube channel, or visit the episode page here. |
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. 2, Issue 4 | March 21, 2026 Hello Reader, I spent part of this past Tuesday in a state of flow. The kind where you look up and realize hours have passed and something meaningful has moved forward. In my case, it was podcast work—episodes reviewed, refined, and pushed ahead. By the time I stopped, I’d carried things nearly to the end of June. On paper, that’s a win. But in practice, it gave me pause. Because while I was doing important work, I wasn’t doing the...
Hello Reader, One of the ideas that stuck with me years ago from Getting Things Done by David Allen is simple: if something goes on your calendar, it’s a commitment. Not a suggestion. Not a possibility. A commitment. That’s why GTD (David Allen's Getting Things Done methodology) encourages us to reserve the calendar primarily for appointments — things that must happen at a specific time. Most tasks belong somewhere else. But over the years I’ve noticed something about the handful of things I...
Hello Reader, I watched One Battle After Another the day that it won the Oscar for Best Picture, and one line has stayed with me ever since. “Time doesn’t exist, yet it controls us anyway.” In the film, the resistance uses it as a code phrase. That alone is interesting — a sentence about time acting as a kind of signal between people trying to move freely within a system that seeks to control them. But the line stuck with me for another reason. If time doesn’t exist in the way we often...