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.

Hosts

David Sparks

MacSparky.com

Mike Schmitz

Follow _mikeschmitz

Navigation

  • Previous Episode
  • Focused Archives

    • Links

  • Sponsor
  • Contact

    • The Focused Forum

    Follow _focusedfm

    Support this show

    Join for $7/month Join for $70/year
    Learn more about membership.

    #232: Useful Not True, with Derek Sivers

    June 17th, 2025 · 76 minutes

    Derek Sivers joins us to talk about personal agency, idea ownership, saying no, and (of course) journaling.

    Guest Starring: Derek Sivers

    This episode of Focused is sponsored by:

    • Incogni: Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code FOCUSED with this link and get 60% off an annual plan.
    • Indeed: Join more than 3.5 million businesses worldwide using Indeed to hire great talent fast.
    • Zocdoc: Find the right doctor, right now with Zocdoc. Sign up for free.

    Stream this episode

    Download: MP3 (70.58 MB)

    Links and Show Notes

    Derek Sivers
    CD Baby
    Hell Yeah or No | Derek Sivers
    How to Start a Movement | TED Talk
    Useful Not True | Derek Sivers
    Anything You Want | Derek Sivers
    Your Music and People | Derek Sivers
    How to Live | Derek Sivers
    How to do what you love and make good money | Derek Sivers
    One big choice shapes a hundred more | Derek Sivers
    Vim
    Scripting News
    The Confident Mind by Nate Zinser
    Mark Twain by Ron Chernow
    The Political Thought of Xi Jinping
    Book I've Read | Derek Sivers
    Pandoc
    What I’m doing now | Derek Sivers
    What I’m Doing Now | MacSparky
    Contact | Derek Sivers