Focus on This
Full Focus
Start loving Mondays! Join Marissa & Joel each week for practical strategies, weekly rhythms, and honest insights to help you slow down, show up, and live intentionally. Based on the proven Full Focus methods used in the Full Focus Planner™, each episode offers habits, mindset shifts, and real support so you can quiet the noise, follow through, and build a life that feels good to live. Ready to focus on what really matters?
Episodes
Mentioned books
4 snips
Apr 6, 2026 • 4min
Gremlins!
A lighthearted take on mysterious recording failures and WWII gremlin lore. The hosts explain why two recent recordings vanished and promise to re-record the missing material. Listeners are invited to leave reviews and suggest future topics.
Mar 30, 2026 • 47min
Work Is Never Finished (So Stop Waiting for It to Be)
They tackle why the to-do list never feels finished and how constant connectivity erases work boundaries. They explore dopamine pulls from after-hours checking and how leadership norms shape team hours. Practical rituals get covered, including a 30-minute shutdown, brain dumps, and simple transitions to stop work from bleeding into life.
Mar 23, 2026 • 37min
The Deeper Problem with Distractions
They dig into why we distract ourselves and reveal that nearly half of interruptions are self-made. The conversation covers when focus breaks down during the day and how low frustration tolerance drives the urge to escape. Practical fixes include designing your environment, lowering startup friction, using short timed work windows, and taking truly restorative breaks to come back sharper.
32 snips
Mar 16, 2026 • 35min
Want to Succeed? Stop Thinking About Your Goal
They argue that obsessing over end results backfires and explain why focusing on present actions speeds progress. Sports and hiking metaphors show the power of the next play and watching your feet. The conversation highlights process over outcome, flexible goals that can change, and using Weekly and Daily Big 3 to plan immediate, momentum-building steps.
45 snips
Mar 9, 2026 • 38min
Spring Clean Your Life (for Your Sanity)
They explore using subtraction rather than addition to clear friction from life. They discuss cutting goals down to a few powerful priorities and picking one domino goal that unlocks others. They warn against hyper-optimized rituals and recommend creating ceiling and floor versions of habits. They suggest cleaning one nagging physical or digital space to gain immediate mental bandwidth.
25 snips
Mar 2, 2026 • 51min
Breaking Out of “Busy” (Planning 2.0 Pt. 2)
They explain the Ideal Week as a flexible time budget that builds margin and lowers stress. Practical tactics include creating buffer times for transitions, protecting a full day off, and scheduling small nagging tasks so they stop draining mental energy. They also recommend batching work by energy type and aligning big tasks with peak focus.
35 snips
Feb 23, 2026 • 45min
Moving From Anxiety to Peace (Planning 2.0 Pt. 1)
They contrast fear-driven contingency planning with intentional, flexible planning rooted in clarity. They introduce research-backed practices like the Weekly Preview to replace anxious rehearsal with focused choices. They discuss planning when calm, linking weekly priorities to long-term vision, and scheduling rest as a strategic priority.
59 snips
Feb 16, 2026 • 47min
Your Energy Audit: Why Your Days Feel Harder Than They Should
They explore the time-energy paradox and why productivity tips sometimes leave you drained. Screens that feel like rest actually overstimulate attention. Short outdoor breaks, walking meetings, and swapping screens for restorative hobbies get real attention back. They emphasize protecting sleep with an attractive bedtime routine and running small energy experiments to see what actually helps.
65 snips
Jan 26, 2026 • 46min
Your Worst Productivity Habit (It Isn’t Your Phone)
They argue phones are a scapegoat and reveal overestimation as the real productivity trap. They explore how the Ideal Week can encourage unrealistic planning and why the planning fallacy makes tasks take far longer. Practical fixes include building calendar buffers, designing environments that reduce temptation, and choosing a few achievable daily priorities to regain momentum.
Jan 19, 2026 • 40min
Work with Your Season, Not Against It
They map life into five productive seasons—sowing, fallow, tending, pruning, and harvest—and explain the risks that come with each. Seven distinct kinds of rest are introduced and tied to recovery needs. Practical rhythm advice shows how a Weekly Preview helps you name your season and pick the right next step.
