David Sparks and Mike Schmitz are not nearly as productive as they’d like to be. Join these fellow travelers (and a bunch of special guests) as they share the best ways to get focused, and talk through their successes and failures along the way. Hosted by David Sparks and Mike Schmitz.
213 episodes transcribedDavid and Mike talk about protecting your most valuable resource and how to figure out what you shouldn’t be doing anymore. Mike gets inspired during...
Ann Shen started her career as a grant writer and realized the ladder she was climbing was leaning against the wrong wall. She then took the courageou...
David and Mike talk about why “eating your frog” is an important Free Agent survival skill. David talks through a pivot in his approach to book publis...
Mike Schmitz joins as the new Free Agents co-host. In this episode, we get to know Mike better, learn about his journey, and discuss the show format g...
Family members with employment issues remind Jason about just how far he's come; David grapples with letting go of control and working with an assista...
Podcaster Merlin Mann joins us to discuss his long journey as an independent worker, during which he's pivoted from tech guy to productivity expert to...
David needs to deal with some clients who aren't paying him. Jason thinks about "taking a personal day" and how that's different from going on vacatio...
Longtime web developer, tech executive, startup co-founder, inspirational speaker, and coach Jaimee Newberry joins David and Jason to discuss her own...
David's home workspace gets invaded by teenagers, Jason reprises his old commute and learns to appreciate the ability to work from anyplace, and a lis...
You might not realize it, but creative professionals in the entertainment industry are also free agents. In this episode we talk to writer/actor/direc...
David attended a conference and was asked for advice (or was it permission?) from many potential free agents. When he got home, his professional life...
David and Jason go through the Free Agents Mailbag with observations about the legend of the man who outsourced his own job, taking a hobby to the nex...
David has a big birthday and joins Jason in discovering the value of embracing a lull; David's wife gets a new job, leading to changes in working at h...
Psychiatrist, writer and musician Kourosh Dini joins us to discuss his long journey to being an independent worker, mixing his various jobs, dealing w...
David tries to not work too hard on his European vacation, while Jason tries to do the same in his own house; David's experiments with hyper-schedulin...
David and Jason talk to artist and writer Thom Zahler, an independent creator for 15 years in indie comics (Love and Capes, Warning Label), licensed c...
We wrap up the year with a discussion of navigating holidays and vacations, David's thoughts about getting projects to completion in the new year, Jas...
John Voorhees of MacStories is a brand-new free agent, a lawyer who left his job in Chicago to set out on his own as a writer and app developer. He te...
David and Jason discuss the importance of prep time, resetting your balance, gauging the value of your work, time tracking, managing ongoing commitmen...
App developer, podcaster, analyst, and secret entrepreneur Marco Arment joins us to discuss his journey from college to Tumblr, building Instapaper, g...
