Mike Vardy

Pouring one out for Stephen Colbert tonight.

When The Colbert Report was on, I was doing my own version of that - a parody productivity pundit, pointing at bad habits in the time management world by playing one. (I wasn't nearly as good at it as he was.)

But somewhere along the way, I became the very thing I was parodying. I stopped playing the character and started doing the real work.
Colbert did something similar - left his character behind, took the chair Letterman left open, and kept finding ways to do what he does. The craft never left. Just the costume.

I wouldn’t be doing what I do now if his show hadn't been on at the right time. That matters more than he'll ever know.

Last show tonight. Thanks, Stephen.

Teal vinyl on a Thursday. This is what a productive afternoon actually looks like. Not a packed calendar, just the right record at the right time.

Spinning Ben Folds’ What Matters Most on teal vinyl this afternoon and honestly? This is the most productive I’ve felt all week. Sometimes the best thing you can do for your work is step away from it for a side and a half.

(Also — teal vinyl. Come on. That’s just objectively great.)

There are three things pulling you away from your work... and they’re not the same thing.

Swipe to see the difference. ➡️

DISTRACTION interrupts your pattern. But once you recognize it, you have agency over it. You can name it, contain it, and stop it from pulling you off course again.

DISRUPTION is external. A fire alarm. Someone walking in. An unexpected event you didn’t invite and couldn’t predict. It shows up rarely — but it still takes you off track.

DIVERSION is what happens when neither gets resolved. When you don’t have a way back to focus and concentration, you drift — and suddenly you’re wondering how you ended up so far from where you started.

Knowing the difference is the first step to dealing with each one on its own terms.

Pondering is productive. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

May 2022. James Taylor. Victoria, BC.

Some shows you attend because it’s a good night out. Others you attend because something in you knows — this might be the only chance you get.

James Taylor doesn’t make it to Victoria often. And neither of us is getting any younger. So when the opportunity came, there was really only one answer.

He played “Secret O’ Life” that night. Written it down in my notebook afterward: Try not to try too hard. Three years later, it still hits exactly the same way — maybe more so.

There’s wisdom in showing up for the things that matter to you, not someday, but now. Concerts. Conversations. Moments that don’t announce themselves as rare until they’re gone.

Go to the show.

Thoreau wrote this long before “productivity” became a buzzword — and it still cuts deeper than most of what’s written about the subject today.

“Success unexpected in common hours.” That phrase alone is worth sitting with. It’s not about grinding toward a goal. It’s about moving in alignment with what you actually want your life to look like — and letting the ordinary moments surprise you.

That’s what TimeCrafting is really about. Not managing time. Crafting a life worth living inside of it.

What does “advancing confidently in the direction of your dreams” look like for you right now?

Some days, the distractions win. The intention slips. The rush takes over.

That’s not failure — that’s being human.

Swipe through for the only thing worth doing when those days show up.