Stop optimizing. Start becoming.
Most productivity advice is about doing more, faster. Clear your inbox. Batch your tasks. Hack your calendar.
This course is different.
The Productivity Field Guide is about identifying who you want to become in every role you play, and building systems to get there.
The ancient Greeks called it *Arete*: the pursuit of excellence in your own character. The kind of thing that makes you want to leap out of bed and put a dent in the universe.
That's not productivity. That's a life worth living.
What I love about David's Productivity Field Guide is it's not about cranking more widgets, it's how to define your best self and then pursue it.
- Dave H.
The Journey
I went on a deep dive through modern productivity literature and theory. At the same time, I went back to Plato, Aristotle, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius for advice.
What I ended up with was a productivity system founded on ancient principles but built with modern tools. A system that let me ship my best work and enjoy life at the same time.
I've published 17 Field Guides. I've recorded some 1,800 hours of podcasts. I've written a daily blog since 2007. And I practiced law for nearly 30 years.
The most frequent question I get asked is: "How do you do it all?"
This course answers that question.
What Makes This Different
Foundation First
Before we talk about calendars and task managers, we define your roles and your ideal self in each one. This becomes your compass for every decision.
Ancient Wisdom, Modern Systems
The philosophy comes from Aristotle, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. The tactics come from decades of testing what actually works.
Transformation
This isn't a quick fix. Real change takes effort. But when it clicks, you'll find euthymia, the tranquility of knowing you're on the right path.
I finally stopped feeling guilty about saying no.
– Brian J.
What's New in 2026
This edition goes deeper than ever before. Based on a year of teaching and thousands of conversations with students, I've added the concepts and tools that make the biggest difference.
- Shadow Roles & The Inner Vader — Name the worst version of yourself
- The Arete Radar — Detect commitments before they hijack you
- Physical Anchors — Tangible reminders that travel with you
- Solving for Meaningfulness — Why slowness serves your foundation
- The Blank Page Ritual — RAM to ROM: temporary to permanent
- The Overhead Tax — The math that becomes your No-Engine
These aren't theoretical additions. They're the tools that emerged from watching where people get stuck—and what actually gets them unstuck.
My wife noticed the change in me before I did.
– Ted E.
What You Get
The Complete Video Course
- 80+ focused video lessons (no fluff, no padding)
- 8+ hours of core instruction
- New 2026 content on Shadow Roles, Physical Anchors, the Arete Radar, and more
- Closed captioning in multiple languages
The Book
- 42,000 word written field guide (yep, 42)
- Available in ePub (fixed and reflowable) and PDF
- Revised for 2026 with new major concepts
The Workshop Series (Pro Edition)
- Eight live sessions with David
- Demonstrations, Q&A, and implementation guidance
- Companion guides for each session
- All recordings added to your course library
Live Quarterly Planning Sessions (Pro Edition)
- Four live sessions throughout 2026—one at the start of each quarter
- Work through the quarterly review process together in real-time
- Bring your questions, get feedback, and start each quarter with clarity
- All sessions recorded if you can't attend live
What You'll Walk Away With
- A written statement of your roles and Arete (your compass for everything)
- A quarterly review ritual you'll actually look forward to
- A daily planning practice that takes 15 minutes and doubles your output
- A shutdown ritual that lets you disconnect from work completely
- Physical anchors that keep your intentions visible
- The ability to say no without guilt (and the language to do it)
- A system that compounds over months into genuine transformation
The Productivity Field Guide Workshop Series
Pro Edition — NEW for 2026
Eight live sessions. One complete system. Real implementation.
This isn't passive video watching. Each session builds on the last with live demonstrations, Q&A, and accountability.
Session 1: The Foundation — Roles, Not Goals Why the ancient Greeks still have the best productivity advice. Identifying the roles that actually matter.
Session 2: Defining Your Arete Writing statements that stick. Shadow Roles and your Inner Vader.
Session 3: The Review System The quarterly-monthly-weekly cascade. Brutal honesty without cruelty.
Session 4: Quarterly Planning Deep Dive The overhead tax. Culling the herd and mothballing projects.
Session 5: Projects, Habits, and Saying No Turning Arete into action. The Arete Radar and the art of the considered no.
Session 6: Hyper-Scheduling and Daily Planning Blocking with intention. The Ideal Week. The daily priority (singular). Planning tomorrow tonight.
Session 7: Maker, Manager, Consumer + Staying the Course The three selves you contain. Protecting the maker's golden hours. Why people abandon the system and how to stay on the path.
Session 8: Integration and Troubleshooting Putting it all together. Fighting Fred. Physical Anchors. Common failure modes and recovery.
Live Quarterly Planning Sessions
Pro Edition — NEW for 2026
The quarterly review is the heartbeat of this system. Pro Edition owners get invited to four live sessions throughout 2026—one at the start of each quarter—where we work through the process together.
These aren't lectures. They're working sessions. You'll leave each one with your roles reviewed, your Arete refined, and your next 90 days mapped out.
Sample Video
Want to check out 30+ minutes of the course? Here you go.
The Formula
After years of teaching this material, I'm increasingly convinced the payoff is bigger than just productivity.
Intentional Living + Ethics = The Good Life
True happiness, flourishing, comes from living with intention, acting ethically, and striving for personal excellence.
Not from achievement. From alignment.
By the end of your life, you want to be able to say: Materiam Superabat Opus. The work was better than the material. You did more than you should have been able to, given what you had.
That's the goal. This course gives you the tools to get there.
I've tried GTD, Pomodoro, all of it. This is different.
– Mary L.
Course Outline
1. The Journey So Far
How productivity became important to me and how I learned from both modern and ancient sources.
2. Productivity Ground Rules
Why most productivity advice feels like snake oil—and the ground rules that make this course different.
3. Roles and Arete
The foundation of the entire system. Your roles, your ideal self in each role, and why this compass beats any goal-setting system.
New for 2026: Shadow Roles, Solving for Meaningfulness, the Arete Radar.
4. Maker, Manager, Consumer
The three selves we all contain and how to balance them. Protecting your golden hours for the work that matters.
5. Projects and Habits
Different tools for different roles. How to turn Arete into concrete action through projects and sustainable habits.
6. Planning for Arete
The quarterly-monthly-weekly cascade. How often to plan, how deep to go, and why documentation is non-negotiable.
New for 2026: The overhead tax and capacity math.
7. Hyper-Scheduling
Your calendar as a commitment device. Blocking your entire day with intention—and why it's liberating, not rigid.
New for 2026: Fluid block scheduling and block-based task management.
8. Daily Planning
The daily priority (singular). Planning tomorrow tonight. The practice that makes everything else work.
New for 2026: The Ideal Week concept.
9. Doing the Work
Plans are great, but execution is everything. How to stay focused and handle disruption.
10. Shutting Down
The seven-step shutdown ritual. How to close the day properly and actually disconnect.
11. Checking Your Work
Time tracking and objective measurement. How to see what's working and what's not.
12. Final Thoughts
Physical Anchors. Fighting perfectionism. Staying the course. The blank page ritual. Grace and persistence.
New for 2026: Extensive new content on sustainability and long-term success.
13. Workshop Series (Pro Edition)
Eight live sessions walking through the entire system with demonstrations, Q&A, and implementation guidance. Plus invitations to live quarterly planning sessions throughout 2026.
Testimonials for the Productivity Field Guide
Watching the Field Guide is like sitting down with a good friend and talking about your priorities in life. Compared to other productivity resources, this guide is not about figuring out how to do more things in less time; this field guide is about figuring out how to give more time to the important things.
– Phillipp
MacSparky's Productivity Field Guide is his best work ever! He teaches a productivity system that is unique to you: it grows out of your life roles and what is important to you. It's comprehensive: it deals with all of your life, not just what you do at work. It's practical: he gives you step-by-step instructions on how to set up your unique systems. And I can testify that after following his system for the past couple of years, it is transformative: it can change your life for the better and help you to become the best possible version of yourself. Amazing value for the price: buy it now!
– Jim E.
The chapter on roles and arete blew my mind.
– Irene K.
I've been playing with Productivity systems for nearly 20 years. I wouldn't expect to have anything new to learn. Sparky proved me wrong. He just saved me from a painful annual review process and has me incorporating my varied roles into my process more.
– Mark L.
Less hustle, more done. I didn't think that was possible.
– James R.
I've been a productivity nerd for decades, reading and adopting new and better techniques over time. So, I was hesitant at first to purchase the Productivity Field Guide, thinking it would be a rehash of the things I already learned, but I'm glad I did. David projects productivity through a different lens - one that most productivity gurus don't provide. His approach to productivity revolves around the person's roles and walks you through understanding how you can be the best you can be at each of those roles (he calls this arete, which he explains in the course). From this foundational starting point, it becomes clear exactly where we should focus our productivity efforts. In this model, productivity isn't just efficiency for efficiency's sake, but an accelerated pathway to being our best selves. This focus has been the missing piece in so many of the past productivity systems I've used and may just be life-changing. Of course, David's step-by-step approach and clear explanations are easy for anyone to follow, and his passion for the subject and empathy for his viewers shines through in every video. I hope you enjoy this course as much as I do.
– Dr. Roy W.
I wake up knowing what matters. That's new for me.
– Bill G.
Anyone who has followed MacSparky for a while starts to wonder how he gets it all done. This Field Guide answers that question in spades. It’s not a done for you, if you do x you will be amazingly productive type course. David provides his framework and processes so we can create our own unique systems for productivity. A process that I am throughly enjoying working through. If you are interested in creating your own productivity system then I highly recommend this field guide.
- Brendan B.
Productivity Field Guide Contents
- The Importance of Why (4:50)
- Roles, Not Goals (8:17)
- Defining Your Roles (13:30)
- Arete (10:44)
- Defining Your Arete (14:24)
- Sparky's Full Statement of Arete (3:17)
- Connecting "Why" to Your Arete (1:10)
- Addressing Disconnect (3:44)
- Why, Revisited (3:13)
- Changing Priorities (2:44)
- Roles and Energy Levels (3:31)
- Amathia (2:30)
- Sparky's Happiness Formula (2:13)
- Balancing Roles (3:31)
- Your Arete Will Change (2:27)
- Shadow Roles (3:04)
- Arete Radar (4:26)
- Compass, Not a Yardstick (3:15)
- Review and Plan Overview (0:52)
- Quarterly and Monthly Review (3:16)
- Quarterly Review Technique (14:16)
- Monthly Plan and Review Technique (4:46)
- Weekly Review Overview (1:06)
- Weekly Plan and Review Technique (4:49)
- Annual Review (3:56)
- Annual Review Technique (4:26)
- Adaptation is Expected (1:46)
- From Theory to Tactics (1:29)
- You Have To Do Less (2:59)
- Productivity With Others (2:27)
- Go Easy On Yourself (2:21)
- Look at The Big Picture (1:38)
- Fighting Perfection (2:09)
- Staying the Course (4:50)
- Show Yourself Grace (2:58)
- You Are What You Do (1:38)
- Going Analog (6:17)
- Sparky's OCR Trick (3:21)
- Inner Voice (4:09)
- Physical Anchors (3:14)
- Shadow Roles (3:04)
- Stop Digging (2:25)
- The Case for Virtue (3:55)
- Productivity Field Guide Reading List
- Thank You (0:52)
- Welcome - PFG26 Update (3:31)
- Physical Anchors - PFG26 Update (3:14)
- Arete Radar - PFG26 Update (4:26)
- Compass Not A Yardstick - PFG26 Update (3:15)
- Don't Juggle - PFG26 Update (4:00)
- Arete From Scratch - PFG26 Update (4:26)
- Inner Voice - PFG26 Update (4:09)
- Shadow Roles - PFG26 Update (3:04)
- Stop Digging - PFG26 Update (2:25)
- The Case for Virtue - PFG26 Update (3:55)
- 1 - The Journey So Far (14:56)
- 2 - Productivity Ground Rules (7:35)
- 3 - Roles and Arete (77:38)
- 4 - Maker, Manager, Consumer (8:59)
- 5 - Projects and Habits (38:50)
- 6 - Planning for Arete (40:45)
- 7 - Hyper-Scheduling (60:19)
- 8 - Daily Planning (21:11)
- 9 - Doing the Work (9:47)
- 10 - Shutting Down (13:32)
- 11 - Checking Your Work (10:47)
- 12 - Final Thoughts (33:20)
- 2025 Updates Combined Videos (69:12)
- 2026 Updates Combined Video (36:24)
Your Productivity Guide
I’ve been excited about technology since I first got my hands on a computer back in 1980. Since then, I’ve written and published numerous books and video courses for the MacSparky Blog and in the MacSparky Labs. I also co-host two popular technology podcasts, Mac Power Users and Focused.
I Have a Mission…
In a world where technology is increasingly conspiring to steal our focus and attention, my goal is to teach you how to be more (not less!) productive with technology.
Finding a method for being more productive about the things most important to me has been a 40-year journey. I'm so excited to share this course with the world.
More Praise for the Productivity Field Guide
I have bought all of MacSparky's Field Guides. There is an engaging degree of simplicity and clarity to his products. At the same time, for complex topics, he is able to communicate in a way that steers you through the forest to plainer pastures. He not only teaches you but does so at your pace and your way.
- Nicholas B
I've listened to David Sparks' podcasts for a few years now and have always wondered how he gets so much done. He's talked about some of his approaches before but there is so much more to the Productivity Field Guide. Having followed productivity guides for at least 25 years, I'm excited about the approach David puts forward to help you decide what's important to you and therefore what you should be working on to be your best self. It's already helping me be more effective in my day to day routines and has really got me thinking about how this could change my life.
- Aiden
The approach regarding arete, roles not goals and carrying water was a hugely helpful basis. The remainder of the course followed these principles. I read it in one day and re-read it several times since. Each time, I tuned my productivity. The course has paid many dividends so far and resulted in several beneficial life changes.
- Michel R.
FINALLY a productivity course that uses the true meaning of life to help you focus on the important areas we really should be working on. Working through my Arete, Roles, and Why? Question l actually became quite emotional as I finally realised that using this system will finally allow me to identify and focus on the people and areas that are most important in my life. I have almost ALL of the MacSparky Field Guides but without a doubt this is the best! Seeing the passion David has put into the videos and material for this course is clear evidence of why he “quit” his day job to follow his MacSparky dreams! I urge everyone to get this course as it’s not the usual “do this and you will have 8hrs free time per day”. This course actually makes you take a long hard look at yourself. It makes you question why you do what you do, who you do things for and what you need to do to be the best person you can be. Not only for yourself but for those around you. Thank you so much David..x
- Sue W.
I find David's thoughtful approach to productivity quite different than most that I have tried in that he's pointing one towards a better life, not simply towards the quantity of work one gets done. He asks us to consider what we do in relation to what we value and gives us tools discover things we could let go of that are not aligning with who we want to be in our best version of our self. Well done.
- Chris A.
Once again, this guide reminds me why I love David’s Field guides so much. The Productivity Field Guide starts by talking about what to do and how to think about your activities before he even starts in on how to get more done in less time. (As a classics major, I always love his references to Plato, Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius et al which put productivity in the context of our humanity rather than as a mechanical device.) Unlike almost every other Productivity Guide, this one doesn’t push a hard-and-fast philosophical school or toolkit… It’s meant for adults who can think about the principles, experiment, and decide for themselves what will most effectively help them reach their goals. I’ve read and followed a lot of productivity systems and gurus and found David’s take very freeing and powerful and a great way to make 2024 a year where you can more effectively fulfill your unique purpose.
- Debra H.
I bought this because I buy all of David's Field Guides, but wasn't expecting much from this, figuring it would be too touchy-feely. Instead, I found it incredibly useful both as a way of organizing much of what David has alluded to in bits and pieces over the years, but also because it is truly a practical guide, even if it is not a technical software guide like his other Field Guides. This will be useful to anyone, no matter where you are on life's journey.
- Rob O.
