Jump into these great productivity and business podcasts on your next commute or work-out. You’ll pick up some quick hacks and tips for improving your business, maintaining a great work/life balance and how to inspire your team.
Getting Things Done
David Allen coined the GTD method and has since hosted this podcast to elaborate on its effectiveness. The podcast is conducted in such a way that it’s relevant to beginners as well as veterans who have used the system for years. Not only will you get loads of insight into David’s GTD method, but you’ll hear from people who have implemented it themselves and benefitted greatly.
How I Built This
Another child of NPR, How I Built This is a podcast that explores the real life stories of successful people. It’s all about how they arrived, what they went through and how they overcame their challenges. You’ll be impressed with the big names features by this podcast. It’s a show that was features in iTunes’ Top 12 Podcasts of 2016, and promises to continue its popularity with the project management and leadership topics that made it so popular.
Inbound After Hours
Hey, marketers–interested to know how the pros pull off a comprehensive inbound marketing strategy? What steps do you need to take to really see your organic and direct traffic pay off? Get expertise from the Digital22 crew and their special guests! Every episode has a video option, in addition to being on all of your favorite podcast channels.
The Tim Ferris Show
Tim Ferris looks for productivity tips in places most people wouldn’t think of. His discussions on leadership, productivity, personal achievement, and business are born from chess strategies, sports men & women, politics and top business people. It’s a great out-of-the-box platform where you’ll learn a lot. Tim also does a three-part Q&A session where common questions (posed by his listeners) are addressed with expert advice.
The $100 MBA
Take 10 minutes out of your day and listen to Omar Zenhom before you start work. He’s one of the most respected MBAs with a personality you’ll soon get addicted to. Guest speakers join in on the conversation and give you loads of tips on how to be more productive, how to run a business and how to be a good leader.
The Accidental Creative
This podcast is tailored for veterans and professionals. If you’re already at the top of your industry, Todd Henry will help you stay there—or better yet, reach the next level. Top experts share their secrets to obtaining better results and reaching higher mountain tops. So if you consider yourself to be highly creative, it’s time to match that creativity with effective productivity to make it work for you.
The 5AM Miracle
This energetic podcast is all about getting more hours out of your day. If you can start your day with a 5AM podcast, chances are you’re ahead of the game. Jeff Sanders will not only start your day early with some excellent tips on productivity, he’ll also help you organize your tasks and even give you tips on how to sleep better—making you more productive the next day. Be sure to start your mornings with this one.
Smart Passive Income
Pat Flynn has reshaped his blog into a very informative online marketing podcast. Because of the intricacies of the digital marketing arena, many struggle to keep up with all their clients. Pat takes practical steps to show you how, and relates those same steps to your industry—even though it may not be in marketing.
Achieve Your Goals with Hal Elrod
Host of Achieve Your Goals, Hal Elrod, is already a successful entrepreneur. He also has loads of experience working on various projects, speaking in public and writing books. Hal caters to entrepreneurs who want to learn the secrets of their industry. It’s not so much about productivity tools as it is about changing your mindset to suit your goals. So if you’re thirsty for some inspiration, this one’s for you.
Back to Work
The back and forth talkshow-style podcast, Back To Work has plenty of educational tidbits for overcoming common challenges in the workplace. Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin discuss everyday situations that every ambitious person can relate to. It’s funny, clever and extremely down to earth.
Beyond the To-Do List
Here’s a podcast with a different approach. Instead of focusing on success, this podcast focuses on real life failure. Stories are of people who have failed in their own personal productivity and how they have since overcome that failure. Host Erik Fisher takes real life situations of failure, analyzes them and talks about how you can either overcome those same failures, or stop yourself from making the same mistakes.
The Biz Chix
As the name suggests, this one’s for the ladies. If you’re an ambitious woman working as a project manager, then this podcast will help you become more productive as an entrepreneur. Women face unique challenges in their respective industries, so it’s nice to know there’s a podcast out there that speaks directly to these challenges and encourages women across the world to go for gold.
Bulletproof Radio
Want to improve? Improve what? EVERYTHING! That’s the energy brought on by Dave Asprey’s podcast where he attempts to improve the very essence of the human spirit. According to Dave, work, physique, family, emotional wellbeing and every other aspect of your life are all tied together. If you want tips on ho
w to be a better person at work and at home using technology and scientific breakthroughs, then bookmark this podcast now.
Entrepreneur on Fire
With every episode on Entrepreneurs on Fire, you’ll meet a new entrepreneur who has made it to the top. These guest host speakers will speak about their challenges, strategies and secrets to success. It’s directed more toward small business owners and beginners, so give it a listen if you’re looking to be inspired to go big.
Eventual Millionaire
Are you looking to start your own business, but not sure where to start? Jaime Tardy is an experienced business coach who interviews experts about how they achieved success. You’ll soon learn to break down the skills you need for starting your own company into categories of leadership, strategy and productivity.
Home Work
Aaron Manke and Dave Caolo speak on various topics related to entrepreneurs who work from home. The digital world of home-based moneymaking is discussed at length on this podcast, and has already helped thousands of people achieve higher levels of home-generating income. Most topics are related to the discipline needed to work from home, so be sure to check this one out if you’re a struggling self-starter.
How Did You Get into That?
This archived podcast only consists of approximately 100 episodes, but it’s one that you will appreciate and refer to often in the future. Grant Baldwin speaks to people who have already achieved great success in their careers, and interviews them to find out how they got started. This is a goldmine for young PMs who want to follow the same leadership formulas for their own careers.
Optimal Living Daily
The minimalist approach is one that has gained popularity over recent years. According to Optimal Living Daily, this is the best way to live—at work and at home. If you’re looking to change your outlook on how you live your life, you’ll receive lots of insight on how to develop your personal life while becoming more productive at work.
The Productivityist
This is one of the most popular productivity podcasts available online. It’s a show hosted by Mike Vardy, a smart strategic thinker who tackles issues like time management, communication, achieving goals, leadership skills and more. Each podcast includes an interview with a respected thought leader. Mike also talks at length about Evernote, which is one of the main reasons people love listening to him so much.
The Project Shrink
The Project Shrink is Dutch born Bas de Baar. He likes to answer the difficult questions about how to manage an unknown team in an industry that’s foreign to you as a project manager. It’s all about facing insurmountable challenges and making a success of your projects regardless of how difficult they may seem.
Project Management for the Masses
This is a great podcast which covers an array of topics related to business and project management. Not only will Cesar Abeid discuss leadership and conference topics, but each episode he’ll bring in experts who can focus on similar specialized topics. Interview topics range between speaker engagements, presentations, time management, and more. If you like this podcast, you’ll probably appreciate Cesar’s book, Project Management for You.
Quick and Dirty Tips
Let’s be honest. Most creatives are at least a little bit lazy. Most of us are looking for shortcuts, because after all, time is money. Quick and Dirty Tips is exactly what you need if you’re pressed for time and need to get stuff done fast. The tips provided by Stever Robbins will help you cope with all that work coming in, without over-stressing yourself.
Smart People Podcast
If you’re smart, you’ll glean some advice from The Smart People Podcast on how to live happily, successfully and productively. You’ll not only get great business advice, but also guidance on how to balance your personal life with work. This podcast is for everyone. It’s very insightful and will have you binge listening in no time.
TED Radio Hour
TED Talks already have a healthy reputation as a platform that educates and improves society. A branch from that platform is TED Radio Hour, which focuses on small level productivity and leadership. This podcast is full of innovative strategies that will change the way you think and propel you in new, exciting directions within your career.
Freakonomics
Freakonomics Radio is another award-winning weekly podcast from the WNYC Studios. Every episode gives the Host Stephen Dubner, the opportunity to take a deep dive into everyday life and the weird wrinkles of human nature – from family and sports to cheating and crime.
Freakonomics also airs on public radio stations across the U.S. The host interviews entrepreneurs, social media scientists, and Nobel laureates.
Listening to this podcast is similar to putting a puzzle together, and working towards achieving your end goal. In other words, it’s possible to “freak out” after listening to an episode. And this is good, because it will help you work smarter, not harder.
Did you find your inspiration?
Greatness is defined in different ways by different people. What works for some won’t necessarily work for others. For this reason, it’s good to see such diversity in the advice podcasts listed here. You can achieve ‘greatness’ in your personal life, your career, your leadership skills and within individual projects. All it takes is the right outlook and a bit of advice from those who have been there.
There are literally hundreds of millionaires and business experts giving away valuable information for free. They’re telling you and me how we can do what they did. In today’s digital age there is simply no excuse not to be successful. It’s all right here at your disposal. So dip in and achieve your goals—starting today!
