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.
When systems work together
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Hello Reader, Over the past little while, something interesting has been happening inside the TimeCrafting Trust community. People have been sharing how they use other productivity methods alongside TimeCrafting—not instead of it. One member mentioned using it in conjunction with the Time Sector System from Carl Pullein. Others have talked about borrowing pieces from systems they’ve trusted for years and letting them live comfortably next to TimeCrafting. That matters to me more than you might think. It brings to mind a quote from Catherine O’Hara that I shared recently: “When we all strive to make each other look good—when we bring out the best in each other—it’s just the best way to be.” (As someone who got their training at Second City, she knew a thing or two about collaboration.) TimeCrafting was never meant to replace everything else you do. It’s meant to work with what already works—to give you a way to relate to time that’s flexible, humane, and durable enough to support whatever tools or methods you choose. That spirit of collaboration is one of the main reasons I built TimeCrafting in the Bullet Journal. The Bullet Journal method doesn’t compete with TimeCrafting—it complements it. One offers a flexible container; the other offers orientation. Together, they create space for intention, attention, and reflection without adding friction or complexity. The course is now live inside the community, and it’s available exclusively to members. Membership starts at $14/month, and that gives you access to the full program (and everything else in the community as well). If you’d like to learn more about TimeCrafting in the Bullet Journal—and join us as a member—you can do that here. See you later, P.S. One of the things I love most about this work is seeing how people adapt it—quietly, thoughtfully—to fit their own lives. If you do join us, you won’t be asked to “do it the right way.” You’ll be encouraged to find your way. |
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 49 | January 31, 2026 Hello Reader, I was talking with a friend recently when they said, “I just need to get better at managing my time.” I didn’t interrupt, but I did eventually offer this: You can’t manage time. But you can manage your calendar. Time moves whether we engage with it or not. It doesn’t respond to effort or intention. What does respond is our relationship with it—and the calendar is where that relationship shows up. If time is on one...
Hello Reader, A few days ago, I had one of those sideways realizations—the kind that doesn’t arrive with a bang, but settles in and refuses to leave. It happened while I was thinking about LEGO. Not as a toy. Not as nostalgia. But as a system. LEGO works because it does something deceptively simple: it gives you structure without prescribing outcomes. There are pieces. Constraints. A logic to how things connect. But what you build—and how you build it—is up to you. That’s when it clicked:...
Hello Reader, Years ago—eons ago, it feels like now—I had a calendar made of bubble wrap. Every day was a bubble. At the end of the day, you popped it. Sometimes I’d pop it with satisfaction. Sometimes with relief. Sometimes with a little frustration that the day didn’t quite become what I hoped. But here’s the thing: once it was popped, it was done. No saving it. No hoarding it. No pretending it could be reused. Time... made tactile. Later on, that idea evolved into something more...