Productivity Nerd

kathy.soulsby
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Welcome to Productivity Nerd by Personally Virtual – your go-to spot for smart, slightly nerdy conversations about productivity, time management, and working smarter (not harder!). Hosted by Virtual Assistant and productivity enthusiast Kathy Soulsby, we unpack powerful tools, books, and habits - from Getting Things Done to Slow Productivity and beyond. Whether you’re a solo business owner, a time-blocking fanatic, or just looking to tame your to-do list, you’ll find actionable tips, interviews, and real talk to boost your focus and reclaim your time.

  1. 5D AGO

    Episode 51 - The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom | Are You Rich in the Ways That Actually Matter? with Helen Taylor

    In this episode, Kathy and Helen Taylor dig into The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom.   Bloom walked away from a high-flying finance career with all the markers of success and a hollow feeling he couldn't explain. This book is what he figured out. Time, social, mental, physical, and financial wealth: most of us spend our working lives chasing the fifth while quietly going bankrupt in the other four. Kathy and Helen get personal about the parents calculation that reframes everything, the pyrrhic victory trap, and whether productivity culture might actually be making the whole problem worse. A thought-provoking, honest conversation about what you're really optimising for.Five types of wealth. Make sure you're not ignoring four of them.

    59 min

  2. APR 29

    Episode 50.5 - This Meeting Could've Been an Email

    In this mini episode, Kathy Soulsby gets straight to the point on one of the biggest productivity drains in any working week: meetings that should have been an email.   Kathy walks through six practical steps to make meetings genuinely useful, not just shorter. From asking the right question before you even hit "invite," to building a proper agenda, managing the clock ruthlessly, keeping the guest list tight, and making sure actions actually get done. There's also a brilliant bonus tip on open office hours, Cal Newport-style. If your calendar is eating your day alive, take a listen and send an email instead.

    10 min

  3. APR 22

    Episode 50 - The Breathing Fix: How Your Breath is Running (or Ruining) Your Performance, with Phoebe Newman

    In this minipod Kathy sits down with breathwork coach Phoebe Newman of Flown to explore one of the most overlooked productivity tools hiding in plain sight: your breath. They dig into what most of us are getting wrong about breathing, how chronic low-level stress is quietly wrecking focus and decision-making, and why the foundation of high performance might be less about your calendar system and more about your nervous system. Phoebe shares practical techniques for focus, calm, energy, and better sleep, plus the one small breathing change that could have the biggest impact on your day. It turns out the best productivity hack costs nothing and you're already doing it. Just, you know, wrong. Follow Phoebe on Instagram: @phlowspacewww.phlowspace.uk www.flown.com

    46 min

  4. APR 15

    Episode 49.5 - The ‘Done for the Day’ Checklist - A method to wrap up work effectively

    In this mini episode of Productivity Nerd, Kathy Soulsby shares her six-step "Done for the Day" checklist - a simple end-of-workday ritual designed to give your brain the off-switch it's been waiting for.   If your evenings are quietly haunted by half-finished tasks and forgotten Slack pings, this one's for you. Kathy walks through how to capture loose ends, tidy your physical and digital desk, review tomorrow's calendar, and pick the three priorities that'll save Future You from opening the laptop in a panic.Short, practical, and genuinely useful, this is the wrap-up routine that turns a frantic fade-out into a proper finish line. Because "I'll deal with that tomorrow" hits very differently when you've actually written it down.

    9 min

  5. APR 7

    Episode 49 - The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande, with Claire Ennion

    Kathy and Claire Ennion dive into The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande, and the unofficial subtitle of this episode says it all: why do incredibly smart people still forget the obvious things?Gawande's answer is both humbling and reassuring. It's not about intelligence. It's about complexity. Modern work has too many moving parts, too many steps, and too much cognitive load for any human brain to manage perfectly, even the very best ones. The checklist, it turns out, isn't an admission of failure. It's one of the most powerful tools ever invented. In this episode, Kathy and Claire explore how a simple five-step checklist in a Michigan hospital cut infection rates by 66% and saved over 1,500 lives. How the aviation industry turned near-disaster into safer skies. And how the WHO surgical checklist reduced deaths by 47% across eight hospitals worldwide. But this isn't just a book about medicine and planes. It's about any work that involves complexity, people, and the terrifying potential of a missed step. Client onboarding. Team processes. The junk folder no one checked. The timesheet set up wrong on day one. Kathy and Claire also get into why experts resist checklists (spoiler: it's ego), what makes a good checklist versus a useless one, and how a simple process change can actually shift the way whole teams communicate. Because sometimes the thing standing between you and a really good outcome isn't strategy or skill. It's remembering to check the obvious stuff before it goes wrong.

    37 min

  6. APR 1

    Episode 48.5 - Taming the Open Tabs Syndrome – Strategies to stop jumping between tasks

    Do you have 43 browser tabs open right now? One of them is definitely making a noise and you have no idea which one.In this bite-sized episode of Productivity Nerd: The Minipod, Kathy Soulsby tackles Open Tabs Syndrome - the twitchy, brain-scattered habit of hopping between tasks, apps, and windows like a caffeinated squirrel, while actually finishing absolutely nothing.Kathy breaks down why it happens (spoiler: your brain hates unfinished business and will not shut up about it), and shares four practical strategies to close the chaos down:Make your tabs earn their keep - if it's not serving your next 30 minutes, it's goneThe Next Action trick - borrowing from David Allen's GTD to replace vague mental clutter with one clear, doable stepThe Two-Screen Fallacy - why more screens don't always mean more focusPre-planning your digital desk - how to set up tomorrow's focus before today endsShort, sharp, and genuinely useful. If you've ever lost an hour to a mystery audio source and seventeen open LinkedIn tabs take a listen.🎧 Perfect for: productivity fans, freelancers, remote workers, anyone whose browser is basically a second brain that's having a breakdown.

    10 min

  7. MAR 25

    Episode 48 - Physical Energy, Movement Habits & The Science of Sustainable Productivity, with Duncan Vincent

    What if the thing tanking your productivity isn't your task list...it's your body? In this episode of Productivity Nerd, Kathy sits down with personal trainer and performance coach Duncan Vincent to talk physical energy, movement habits, and why your next productivity upgrade might involve fewer browser tabs and more lunges. They cover cortisol, energy slumps, the "I don't have time" myth, and why movement is a performance tool, not just a gym thing. Ideal for anyone who's tried to power through a to-do list on caffeine and willpower alone. Spoiler: there's a better way. To get more tips and insights, or a session with the man himself you can follow Duncan on instagram or visit his website:@dvpersonaltraining https://dvpersonaltraining.com/

    48 min

  8. MAR 18

    Episode 47.5 - Success Comes From Small Efforts Repeated Daily

    In this mini episode of Productivity Nerd, Kathy shares a simple reminder inspired by a postcard hanging in her loo: “Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.” It’s tempting to chase the latest productivity app, gadget, or perfectly colour-coded planner (Kathy is absolutely guilty of this). But real progress usually comes from something much less exciting: quietly showing up and doing the work. From an Olympic shooter who skipped the fancy gear to Stephen King’s daily writing habit, this episode is about the power of relentless consistency over shiny distractions. Short, honest, and reassuring for anyone who’s ever spent four hours researching a new system instead of cracking on. Sometimes productivity really is that simple.

    8 min
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About

Welcome to Productivity Nerd by Personally Virtual – your go-to spot for smart, slightly nerdy conversations about productivity, time management, and working smarter (not harder!). Hosted by Virtual Assistant and productivity enthusiast Kathy Soulsby, we unpack powerful tools, books, and habits - from Getting Things Done to Slow Productivity and beyond. Whether you’re a solo business owner, a time-blocking fanatic, or just looking to tame your to-do list, you’ll find actionable tips, interviews, and real talk to boost your focus and reclaim your time.

Information

  • Creator
    kathy.soulsby
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    101
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © kathy.soulsby
  • Show Website
    Productivity Nerd

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