Mike Spakowski to Speak at Association of National Advertisers Panel

Mike Spakowski to Speak at Association of National Advertisers Panel

Work-life balance? There’s an app for that. An awful lot of them, actually.

The other day I stood up my friend and business advisor for lunch.

Here’s what’s worse – I didn’t realize it until two days after it happened.

When it hit me it, it was 3 AM, and I jumped out of bed in a panic.

I felt awful about it. Really awful. I have been stood up before, but I never thought that I would be the person rude (or forgetful) enough to not show up.

Thankfully, my friend is a very kind person, and accepted my apology.

We’re going to lunch on Friday and I’m definitely buying. I’m sure dessert will be ordered. Rightfully so.

We all have a million things going on.

Admittedly (and probably just like everybody), I usually have a million things going on.

Between running a design agency, working on client projects, making videos, organizing monthly design and marketing themed lectures, coordinating St. Louis Design Week, and interviewing new team members, I can get overwhelmed.

I haven’t even mentioned my wife and three young sons. Baseball games. Cub Scouts. Book club.

Even promoting Atomicdust’s work and keeping our social channels alive takes a lot of energy and coordination.

First off, I want to say that I am lucky to have all these wonderful things to keep up with — I am not complaining. But sometimes it’s a struggle to not drop the ball. Rest assured, I also work with some very well organized people that keep things running on track, but sometimes I still feel overloaded.

But here’s the thing – none of this is an excuse. Everyone is busy. Everyone is doing more than ever, and has more information than ever to keep up with. The world isn’t slowing down anytime soon, and it can be tough to keep up.

That’s why it’s kind of funny that the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) asked me to speak on a panel about my favorite digital productivity tools. Honestly, between email, Basecamp notifications, and Slack messages, the last thing I need are more digital productivity tools. Sometimes the productivity tools themselves make me feel less productive.

But, this internet thing is catching on, and there are some great tools and (arguably more importantly) some great philosophies that, when put into place, can make a huge difference in staying organized and boosting your productivity.

I’ll share my struggle over the years, tools I use on a daily basis, and things that I deliberately and purposefully don’t pay much attention to.

If you’re interested in hearing more, grab a ticket for Productivity Apps & Tasty Snacks on June 20 2018, at Chase Park Plaza.

Unless you’re too busy to go. Or you forget about it.  🙂