# productivity
50 moments across 42 episodes. Click any moment to jump straight to that part of the episode.
12:24The Meeting Experiment: Cancelling a Week of MeetingsLeanne Elliott: Yeah. Chris Lovett: So we'd probably not waffle around for 15 minutes, or complete, you know, question the work that we would be working on as a team. And I'd be like, is this the most important thing we'EP 325 · 6 Aug 2026·interview· 12:24–17:3023:56Corporate Athletes: Tactical Rest and AttentionChris Lovett: Yeah, that's a great shout because the view of laziness and even like resting, things like that, has been given such a bad rap because of the hustle bros and the hustle culture. Don't forget to get up at 5.EP 325 · 6 Aug 2026·interview· 23:56–33:3533:35Strategic Laziness and Small RebellionsAl Elliott: Fabulous. Well, let's do that. So let's have a little virtual coaching session. So I'll set the scene. I've come to you. I am so busy at work. I'm working in the evenings. I'm working on the train on the way EP 325 · 6 Aug 2026·interview· 33:35–52:507:21Word of the Week: Botsitting and BotshittingAl Elliott: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I feel like it's been at least a couple of weeks Leanne Elliott: Yeah, I have to, I have to thank Nicole Eisendorfer for sending this to me Al Elliott: Oh, she's a friend. We love her. NeverEP 316 · 7 Jul 2026·news roundup· 7:21–15:1440:10Quantifying Wasted Time: Data on Collaboration LossesAl Elliott: Yeah Sean O'Shea: And to benefit from. There's so much value and none of it was ever being felt. And then when I started to become curious about this and start these companies, every team I was exploring was EP 309 · 11 Jun 2026·interview· 40:10–45:3624:19The frantic rush to the endGabrielle Dolan: What do you think? Al Elliott: We actually have a lot in common. We both use behavioral science to help people do better at work : And 2 out of 3 of us are devilishly good-lookingEP LIVE-2026-05-01 · 1 May 2026·panel interview· 24:19–32:563:57The Sh*tcut: When Speed Kills QualityLeanne Elliott: And I saw it and I thought, I'm going to use that when Lex and Sal are on the show because I think they'll appreciate it. My new word of the week, sh*tcut. Sally Clarke: Very into it. Tell us more. AlexisEP 292 · 14 Apr 2026·news roundup· 3:57–10:2413:19Story 2: NotebookLM: your personal AI Mike RossAl Elliott: Lovely. Okay, so I want to talk about my I haven't really got an article for you this week. I've got more of a kind of a love letter to a tool I've been using for about a year now Leanne Elliott: Okay Al ElliEP 288 · 31 Mar 2026·news roundup· 13:19–16:4525:11Truth or Lie — Are morning people more successful?Leanne Elliott: So come back Al Elliott: I'll cut that out. Keep that in. Welcome back. This is Truth or Lie. As you know, the part of the show where we take a popular idea and I ask Leanne, Does the evidence actually baEP 284 · 17 Mar 2026·truth or lie· 25:11–39:3746:37Truth or Lie: Can Some People Genuinely Multitask?Al Elliott: Yeah Leanne Elliott: At home, practise in the mirror, just saying out loud what it is that, that you want to say. Or if you're working with a coach, practise with them, because it is going to really help you EP 282 · 10 Mar 2026·truth or lie· 46:37–55:5820:00Story 3: Why the last stretch feels hardestAl Elliott: There's an idea Leanne Elliott: There's an idea Al Elliott: Leigh, what else have you seen, my love?EP 278 · 24 Feb 2026·news roundup· 20:00–28:3931:06Prediction 5 — Georgia M. Hodkinson: Clarity is the new productivity metric (not time)Leanne Elliott: Georgia is currently in stage 2 of her occupational psychology training. She's the founder of Georgia's Psy Work, where she helps organisations prevent burnout and improve performance through psychology-lEP 262 · 30 Dec 2025·other· 31:06–37:2044:56When meetings should be emails — and when they really shouldn'tAl Elliott: There's plenty of jokes and memes online about meetings, and rightly so, to be honest. However, 2 of the biggest questions around meetings generally are, when should a meeting have been an email? And 2, can wEP 241 · 16 Oct 2025·interview· 44:56–48:207:45Workslop: AI's productivity problemLeanne Elliott: What? Al Elliott: Yeah, I know. I was a bit jealous of you coming up with a new word, so I've got my own. When I said got my own new word, it was in Harvard Business Review. Check me out. As I'm speaking EP 236 · 30 Sept 2025·news roundup· 7:45–11:1719:01Truth or Lie? — 'White noise helps you concentrate'Al Elliott: Beautiful, beautiful. Thank you so much. Right, if you've got, by the way, if you've got a news article you'd like Leanne and I to It's a good job, isn't it? Yeah, butcher in my case. Then, then the links froEP 234 · 23 Sept 2025·truth or lie· 19:01–29:0818:1219 Ways to Improve Your Life According to ScienceLeanne Elliott: Changing the tone slightly. 19 ways to improve your life according to science. I have actually talked about this article before on the podcast, but ages ago, probably like a year, maybe even 18 months agoEP 232 · 16 Sept 2025·news roundup· 18:12–23:292:56Story 1: 'Locking In' – Hustle Culture 2.0Leanne Elliott: I've got a new word Al Elliott: Oh, I love when you get new words. Do I guess the new word? Completely guess it? Leanne Elliott: SureEP 208 · 24 Jun 2025·news roundup· 2:56–10:0833:48Workplace Surgery: Best Places to Work Remotely and Feel InspiredAl Elliott: Fabulous. Okay, Leanne, it's now my favourite time of the week. It's the World FM's Weekly Workplace Surgery where I put your questions to Leanne. You know all this, just tune out for 10 seconds. Leanne is a EP 208 · 24 Jun 2025·workplace surgery· 33:48–41:1226:28Q4 — Keeping projects moving with fewer handsAl Elliott: Okay, some really good tips there. Question number 4 I've got here is, what strategies can we implement to prevent project delays during summer? Now, this is one which I think gets a lot of people. Because thEP 203 · 5 Jun 2025·other· 26:28–30:1536:10Q6 — Leveraging quiet summer weeks for strategic planningAl Elliott: Okay, so question number 6, can we leverage the quieter summer period for strategic planning? Now, this I really like. Funnily enough, we've been doing this over the last couple of days. So, coming up for JunEP 203 · 5 Jun 2025·other· 36:10–40:0711:28Story 2 — What the UK can learn from Iceland's 36-hour weekAl Elliott: No, I, I've just, I just had a go. Uh, so anyway, so she's Icelandic. She's been living and working the 4-hour working week for 6 years. But the question is, is it actually working? Now, this is a longitudinaEP 198 · 20 May 2025·news roundup· 11:28–17:2822:40Hot Take: Being busy isn't a personalityLeanne Elliott: Welcome back. As regular listeners will know, every week we ask a workplace expert for their hot take on the world of work. Our hot take this week comes from someone who's on a mission to make work feel bEP 190 · 22 Apr 2025·hot take· 22:40–36:199:01Is British work culture holding us back?Al Elliott: Well, I came across this maybe potentially divisive LinkedIn post this week. A guy called Tom Scourfield. He's a British ghostwriter with American clients. First of all, he wrote in like Fortune magazine or sEP 188 · 15 Apr 2025·news roundup· 9:01–13:5248:47Workplace Surgery: Faking online activityLeanne Elliott: Um, which is very different to a mouse jiggler. We discovered Al Elliott: We discovered a couple of weeks ago. Yep. So they're basically trying to pretend that they're at work when they're away. The stranEP 186 · 9 Apr 2025·workplace surgery· 48:47–52:0821:43Hot Take: Why Tech Can't Fix Burnout with John ChanJohn Chan: Yes, my hot take is that technology alone is not going to improve productivity, right? And no amount of AI is going to solve some of the systemic problems that are entrenched in a lot of organizations. Now, noEP 184 · 1 Apr 2025·hot take· 21:43–34:0643:34Workplace Surgery: The calendar bullyAl Elliott: All right. The next question says, my productivity is being hijacked by a calendar bully. I'm a senior developer who blocks out 2-hour deep work sessions in my calendar 3 times weekly for complex coding, an aEP 182 · 25 Mar 2025·workplace surgery· 43:34–46:438:34Sergey Brin calls for 60-hour workweeksAl Elliott: Well, this one caught my eye. I've always been, well, I'm not always, but Back in the day when I was starting my businesses, I was fascinated by, uh, by Google because it seemed to come from nowhere. Um, one,EP 176 · 4 Mar 2025·news roundup· 8:34–15:098:00Story 2: Task masking: the new workplace resistance movementAl Elliott: Yes, I have got a new term for you. It's going— Leanne Elliott: You're finding all these new terms at the minute, aren't you? Al Elliott: No, I know. It's a TikTok thing, understandably. Entrepreneur.com wrotEP 174 · 25 Feb 2025·news roundup· 8:00–14:2414:27Story 3: Short breaks boost learningAl Elliott: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah Leanne Elliott: And clearly it worked out quite well for David, but equally, this might not have been the best approach, Mr. Beckham Senior. So researchers have basically found that real iEP 172 · 18 Feb 2025·news roundup· 14:27–19:2511:03Why Napping Boosts PerformanceLeanne Elliott: Good news, Al! Napping improves our performance at work Al Elliott: Yes, yes, yes! I love a nap Leanne Elliott: Yeah, and this is according to science. This isn't just general opinion, uh, because I thinkEP 170 · 11 Feb 2025·news roundup· 11:03–14:2121:18Giving value-add time back to the businessLeanne Elliott: Like the idea of AI giving value-add time back to the business by taking away that more kind of administrative transactional grunt work, if we're being honest. And I can't imagine there's many salespeopleEP 169 · 6 Feb 2025·interview· 21:18–26:0232:19The problem with the two-day weekendAl Elliott: Okay Leanne Elliott: And he said, the problem with a 2-day weekend is you always end up doing 2 of those 3 things. And if you, if you don't have a day where you do nothing, you're tired the next week, basicalEP 156 · 24 Dec 2024·other· 32:19–33:1130:34Workplace Surgery: Seasonal Productivity DipsAl Elliott: 1.6 decades. It's her job to give our lovely listeners advice on work-related problems. So talking of problems, here's the first one, Leanne. Every year I seem to face the same challenge. From about mid-NovemEP 148 · 26 Nov 2024·workplace surgery· 30:34–36:1829:43Workplace Surgery: open office headphones dilemmaLeanne Elliott: I wouldn't ban headphones. I think that'd be, that would be the best, most positive note to get off on. Um, do you know what this is? And we've actually, we've actually talked around this quite a bit the EP 128 · 17 Sept 2024·workplace surgery· 29:43–33:2913:5519 science-backed ways to improve your lifeLeanne Elliott: Yes, I saw an article on the BPS. That's the British Psychological Society website. And they gave us 19 science-based hacks to improve your life. So it's one of those lists that you always see on like, onEP 126 · 10 Sept 2024·news roundup· 13:55–19:1214:33Breakfast habits of successful executivesLeanne Elliott: Well, after doomscrolling, I thought I would end things on a lighter note. Al, have you ever wondered what the most successful people in the world have for breakfast? Al Elliott: I don't know. I'm thinkinEP 122 · 19 Aug 2024·news roundup· 14:33–20:143:01The multitasking mythLeanne Elliott: I saw an interesting article this week on The Telegraph website. I'm very cultured. Um, about multitasking. I know we talk about multitasking quite a bit, Al, don't we? Because both of us are generally prEP 111 · 2 Jul 2024·news roundup· 3:01–6:1515:19Tip 3: The 4-Day Work Week Is Not a Fad with Joe O'ConnorAl Elliott: Um, I first got interested in the 4-day week and shorter working weeks more generally all the way back in 2018, back when really the 4-day week, if we're being honest, was more of a philosophical discussion tEP 100 · 23 May 2024·other· 15:19–19:2624:00Tip 5: Measure the ROI with Bruce DaisleyAl Elliott: Do your job and just be grateful for it. And actually, it's quite good that— I think it's great that Gen Z are not grateful for their jobs because there's a lot of soul-searching that hasn't been done in workEP 100 · 23 May 2024·other· 24:00–28:0728:12Workplace Surgery: pride in being busy and hustle cultureLeanne Elliott: No. And yes. And leave Al Elliott: There you go. So what you're saying is that no, you shouldn't try and fit in. Yes, you should just do your work, um, in, in the hours that you're allowed. And if that's EP 86 · 2 Apr 2024·workplace surgery· 28:12–31:1829:27The productivity debate: quality vs. quantitymidroll (Phil Agnew, Nudge): It can midroll (Phil Agnew, Nudge): I am Leanne Elliott (split): But come backEP 83 · 21 Mar 2024·panel interview· 29:27–35:3340:16Engage with us: your thoughts on work and productivityRory Sutherland: I don't see McDonald's getting rid of the human any day soon because some people prefer it that way. Okay, some people want some weird order because they hate the pickle. Or whatever, and maybe it's not EP 83 · 21 Mar 2024·panel interview· 40:16–50:0319:39Reasonable Adjustments and Working SmartJodie Hill: Well, you probably won't see many people in our office because we work smart. So a lot of people work remotely. We work when and where we want, so we're not— people work different days, different hours, depenEP 73 · 11 Jan 2024·interview· 19:39–20:533:08New word alert: the 4-6pm dead zoneAl Elliott: What have you got, Leah? Leanne Elliott: We have a new word Al Elliott: New word alertEP 53 · 24 Aug 2023·interview· 3:08–7:470:33Framing the debate — is remote work a mistake?Al Elliott: Nice. Check out hopspot.com, the agentic customer platform for growing businesses. And of course, what we see is lots of organizations panicking like hell because management is losing control and they're callEP 43 · 14 Jun 2023·other· 0:33–2:149:22The elephant in the room — measuring productivityLeanne Elliott: Possibly, possibly overmedicated. Um, but first, let's address the elephant in the room. Now, you might be listening to this and go, Al, Leanne, I'm with you, I'm clinging on, I'm trying to not— I'm tryinEP 43 · 14 Jun 2023·other· 9:22–11:0511:05Takeaway 1 — The most significant factor in productivityAl Elliott: Well, there are actually 3 takeaways that we can talk about now. The first of these is that the most significant aspect of management which has influenced design leads to toxic workspace. That's the first thiEP 43 · 14 Jun 2023·other· 11:05–14:5254:24Measuring productivity — and why you're being watchedLeanne Elliott: A couple of things there I think our experts pointed out beautifully. One, we have already gone through one of the most disruptive transformations and changes and shifts in how we work and how we operate EP 36 · 25 Apr 2023·other· 54:24–56:2111:41Low dopamine morningsLeanne Elliott: Well, something else that I was reading, and I thought it was again topical into our conversation with Stella today. I was reading an article in Stylist magazine Al Elliott: That doesn't— I mean, looking EP 33 · 5 Apr 2023·other· 11:41–15:2250:39The business case for taking burnout seriouslyLeanne Elliott: But when I look back, it's, I was in abject denial that I was I was having physical symptoms, so I was having quite a lot of rashes and headaches. I was barely sleeping. I'd lost quite a lot of weight. AnEP 20 · 10 Jan 2023·other· 50:39–53:43
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