Undo – How history's outliers got stuff done
An investigation into how history’s oddballs, outliers, and overachievers built systems to help them do their best work.Each episode unearths a so-called productivity hack from history to help you separate the brilliant from the bullshit, so you can build a methodology that works for you.Productivity isn’t about getting more done to feed a money-seeking monster with an ever-growing appetite. It’s about clearing the clutter so you can focus on what you do best.Because if Edison can invent the lightbulb without Inbox Zero, you can probably survive without 10x-ing your toothbrush routine. Get bonus content on Pat...
Sun, April 20, 2025
What Sherlock Holmes can teach us about productivity and our brains
He’s the world’s first and only consulting detective, and his mind has fascinated us for over a hundred and thirty years. His methods are mysterious and complex, but goddammit he gets results. So what can Baker Street’s most famous resident teach us about how we do our most important work? Special thanks to this week's guest, Matthew Bellringer . Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sun, April 13, 2025
How to stick to it when the novelty wears off – Atomic Habits
Could there be more to habit building than “just showing up”? On those days when you can’t find the inspiration, is there anything you can do to help keep you on track? Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sun, April 06, 2025
How to turn your side hustle into your main gig – “The One Thing”
While we might not come up with a paradigm-shifting idea, we are capable of putting a dent in the universe, and putting something on the permanent record of the Internet. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sun, March 30, 2025
20% of your effort makes up 80% of your success — The Pareto principle
How you can use this law of nature, work, productivity and creativity to focus on the stuff that will have the biggest impact, and eventually ditch the rest. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bonus · Thu, March 27, 2025
An update from the shed
This is a quick bonus episode to let you know about some of the changes happening to Undo. It's good news. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mon, March 24, 2025
How to be a polymath – Leonardo da Vinci
Being a creative person in this most digital of decades means needing to be good at more than one form of creative expression. That means thinking like a polymath, and luckily we have history’s greatest multi-hyphenate to learn from. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mon, March 17, 2025
The super-productive women missing from time management history
Let’s spend a bit of time today with some of the women of productivity history, some of whom you know, some we’ll meet for the first time. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mon, March 10, 2025
How Ben Franklin used timeboxing to stop missing deadlines
If you have to meet any kind of regular publishing schedule, you’ll know how time can stretch out into infinity until the night before you have to hit Publish, when suddenly it feels like you have to cram 8 hours of work into 30 minutes. But Benjamin Franklin had a neat little system that helped him keep on top of his commitments, and all it takes is a pen, some paper, and a watch. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mon, March 03, 2025
What happened to the Inbox Zero guy?
Inbox Zero is a pretty good way of organising your email, but behind the system is a dude who stepped off the hamster wheel of productivity, got some perspective, and became one of the Internet’s true treasures. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mon, February 24, 2025
How to make fewer mistakes – The Checklist Manifesto
Simple mistakes are more common than it’s comfortable to admit. But there’s a dirt-simple technique that has dramatically reduced the number of preventable deaths, and it’s stuff we can use to make our own lives run more smoothly. Thanks to Ayesha Khan of Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* for lending her voice to Mark's silly opening sketch. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mon, February 17, 2025
How to work when the sky’s caving in — Lincoln vs Churchill
When things look bleak, either in your head or out in the world, being “productive” is probably the furthest thing from your mind. We live in difficult times, no doubt, but two outliers a hundred years apart, fought oppression, propaganda, and dehumanisation all while under their own personal dark clouds. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mon, February 10, 2025
Bullet Journal – Productive or performative?
Can this analogue system for a digital age really help us get more done? Has it strayed from its roots and become synonymous with people who call things “super aesthetic”? And, if we can learn what we need to about the system in 3 minutes, why does it cost three and a half grand to learn to teach it? Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mon, February 03, 2025
How to get into the zone — Flow
Time stands still and you’re in that sweet-spot where the work you're doing is challenging enough to hold your attention, but not so difficult that it causes you stress. This is flow, and it might just prove itself to be one of the keys that unlocks long-term happiness. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mon, January 27, 2025
The tomato of productivity – the Pomodoro Technique
It’s four o’clock in the afternoon, and you’re thinking over your day. Did you actually get anything done, or were you just reacting to a bunch of distractions? Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mon, January 20, 2025
Do the worst thing first thing (”Eat the frog”)
“Eat a live frog every morning, and nothing worse will happen to you for the rest of the day.” So says Mark Twain. Or so says a productivity guru says Mark Twain. But as far as we can tell, Mark Twain never said that. So what’s with all the frogs, and how can they help us do more of the right stuff, and less of the wrong? Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mon, January 13, 2025
Work expands to fill the time available – Parkinson’s Law
Studies show if you give people 60 minutes to complete a task that only takes 30, they’ll work the full hour instead of taking the rest off. That’s Parkinson’s Law in action, and by recognising it, we can buy back some time to ourselves. Just don’t tell the boss, or they’ll give you more busy work. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mon, January 06, 2025
The Eisenhower Matrix – Decision-making in the White House
How do you decide what needs to be done now, and what can wait? And how do you take care of the stuff that needs doing now, while not neglecting the things that make it worth getting out of bed in the morning? Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Trailer · Fri, November 08, 2024
Introducing Undo
Humans will do anything to avoid the actual work they said they’d do. While supposedly writing this trailer I checked my slow cooker, restocked the fridge, took my blood pressure (it’s dangerously high, btw), followed up on a WhatsApp conversation, picked up the post, checked in on the cats, tidied my desk and made another coffee. That’s genuinely true – these are all things I did while I should’ve been writing this script. And all I really need to tell you is that Undo is a podcast that examines productivity methods through the ages and tries to separate the brilliant from the bullshit, so you can figure out how to design your own system that matches your brain chemistry. I mean really, it’s just a fun show you can listen and tell yourself you’re working. Finally, procrastination in podcast form! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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