In this episode Kathy meets a fellow planner obsessive.

Sam Smith, founder of Hello Time, couldn’t find a paper planner that worked for her, so she designed her own. They get into what belongs in a planner and what to leave out, why vertical or horizontal layouts matter, and why planning is worth it even if you’re tempted to just crack on.

Kathy explains why her working life runs in ClickUp but her thinking happens on paper.

She also covers the research on writing by hand: it helps your brain take in, summarise and remember information. Rewriting your to-do list makes you decide what still matters. A finite page also shows you quickly when you’ve taken on too much.

Sam gives a creative’s take on how a planner sparks ideas and connects dots in a way a digital list can’t, and shares tips for setting one up and sticking with it.

For Productivity Nerd listeners - sign up to the Hello Time newsletter for 10% off your first order, and put “Productivity Nerd” in your order notes to get a free calendar bookmark.

Links here:@hellotimeplannerwww.hellotime.co.uk

No-meeting days sound like the dream. You clear the calendar, close the door and finally get some real work done. Kathy has kept her Wednesdays and Fridays meeting-free for years and wouldn’t give them up. So why does she think they might be the right solution to the wrong problem?

In this solo minipod, Kathy looks at what no-meeting days actually fix and what they quietly leave untouched. Your diary might be clear, but you’re still pinging between Teams, Slack, WhatsApp and a dozen other apps. Decisions from yesterday’s call have already disappeared. And if you work hybrid, deep focus can feel like a myth.

She covers why meeting-free days work, why meetings are only part of the focus problem, and the simple changes that help you protect your attention every day of the week. These include shorter default meetings, AI meeting notes that make sure actions get done, and a ruthless “agenda or cancel” rule she isn’t completely sold on.

Why do you make terrible decisions at 4pm? Why does one email at 9am derail your whole morning? Kathy and Helen dig into Your Brain at Work by David Rock, a neuroscience-backed guide to focus, distraction and working smarter, to find out.

Rock's big idea is that your prefrontal cortex is like a small stage with a spotlight. Only three or four things fit on it at once. Pile on more and the lights go dim. Kathy and Helen work through the book's real-world scenarios and pull out the practical fixes.

In this episode:

• Why checking email first thing drains your focus before you've started
• Chunking: how to break down a project that hurts to think about
• The real cost of multitasking and context switching
• Finding your peak performance sweet spot
• The ARIA model (Awareness, Reflection, Insight, Action) for getting unstuck
• Why uncertainty is so mentally exhausting
• How status, fairness and relatedness trigger threat mode at work
• Giving feedback that builds insight rather than defensiveness

Great for anyone who wants to protect their focus, manage mental load and get more done without burning out.