The Productivityist Podcast: Ideas And Tools For Personal Productivity | Time Management | Goals | Habits | Working Better

This week on A Productive Conversation, I sit down with Brad Stulberg, author of The Way of Excellence, to explore what excellence really means in a world obsessed with efficiency, optimization, and performative productivity. Brad has spent years studying sustainable excellence across sport, leadership, creativity, and life—and this conversation digs into why excellence is neither perfection nor hustle, but something far more human.Brad and I unpack the difference between true excellence and what he calls “pseudo-excellence,” why metrics often outlive their usefulness, and how habits like routine, curiosity, and gumption play a central role in meaningful progress. Along the way, we explore why satisfaction outlasts happiness, why flow isn’t always the goal, and how focusing on the task at hand—not the time on hand—changes everything.Six Discussion PointsWhy excellence must be reclaimed from hustle culture, optimization, and perfectionismThe difference between efficiency and excellence—and why short-term effic