The Lantern is a thoughtfully curated weekly email from Mike Vardy designed to help you craft a better relationship with time. Each edition brings you insights, inspiration, and practical tools through a simple yet powerful framework: Look (a thought-provoking video or visual), Listen (a compelling podcast or audio insight), and Learn (a deep dive into a key concept, article, or book). Designed to inform, inspire, and illuminate, The Lantern helps you navigate time with clarity and intention—without the overwhelm.
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 Lantern: A Weekly Guide to Navigating Time with Intention
The Lantern is a thoughtfully curated weekly email from Mike Vardy designed to help you craft a better relationship with time. Each edition brings you insights, inspiration, and practical tools through a simple yet powerful framework: Look (a thought-provoking video or visual), Listen (a compelling podcast or audio insight), and Learn (a deep dive into a key concept, article, or book). Designed to inform, inspire, and illuminate, The Lantern helps you navigate time with clarity and intention—without the overwhelm.
The Lantern by Mike Vardy Vol. 1, Issue 20 | July 12, 2025 Hello Reader, Every day, your attention moves. It shifts between tasks, screens, conversations, internal noise. Sometimes you guide it. Often, it gets pulled. And rarely—rarely—do you pause to ask: Where is it going? And why? Attention isn’t just focus. It’s not about trying harder to concentrate. It’s a finite resource. A vote. A signal of value. When you give your attention to something, you give it your time, your energy, your...
The Lantern by Mike Vardy Vol. 1, Issue 19 | July 5, 2025 Hello Reader, We talk a lot about hard work. And smart work. And sometimes even deep work. But there’s another kind of work that often gets overlooked—maybe because it doesn’t look like work at all. It’s the kind of work you do not because you have to, but because you want to. The kind that lights you up instead of wearing you down. It might be writing a line you don’t plan to publish. Or mapping out a new system not because it’s...
The Lantern by Mike Vardy Vol. 1, Issue 18 | June 30, 2025 Hello Reader, Last year, my 50th birthday didn’t quite go as planned. We had renovations happening—dust in the air, timelines shifting, rooms half-done. The idea of a big celebration faded quickly into background noise. And for a while, I felt a little disappointed by that. But as the day came and went, I realized something: maybe it wasn’t the party I missed. Maybe it was the marker—a moment to pause and say: This matters. I’ve made...