Sinopse
Want to work smarter, not harder? Here's how to do it. Join Stever Robbins, author of "Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More", each week as he provides inventive productivity and organization tips to transform even the most overwhelmed person into an overachiever. Are you buried in email? Stever will tell you how to dig your way out. Is technology holding you captive? Stever will help you evaluate your devices and only use the ones that actually help you get stuff done.
Episódios
-
Five icebreakers that actually work for team meetings
20/10/2026 Duração: 14min918. You need to open a meeting, and the usual icebreaker makes everyone cringe. Chosen with intention, a warmup does real work by warming up the exact muscles a team needs for the job in front of it. Rachel Cooke shares five of her favorites, from reflection cards to a Would You Rather deck. She explains how she matches each one to what the meeting needs to accomplish, whether that’s getting a stuck team to decide, building trust for a hard conversation or helping a new team connect.Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
How to get your team working together again
13/10/2026 Duração: 14min917. Lots of teams have quietly stopped being teams. They're capable people sprinting in their own directions, connected by a reporting line and little else. Rachel Cooke explains why that fragmentation is lonely for people and expensive for the organization, and offers four ways to put the team back together: a shared winning aspiration, forums for deciding together, smarter use of one-on-ones, and protected time to reconnect.Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
Four questions to help your team get better at AI
06/10/2026 Duração: 11min916. Getting better at AI isn't a technology problem. It's a work design problem. Drawing on a corporate "digital transformation" that never quite landed, Rachel Cooke explains why skill without structure has nothing to hold onto. She then walks through four questions that build that structure: what you're trying to win, whether your tools and guardrails match your expectations, where AI belongs in your highest-value work, and how your team learns together while the technology keeps changing. Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
5 questions to ask before asking more of your team
01/10/2026 Duração: 14min915. Your team missed the deadline, and the reasons are starting to sound like excuses. The instinct is to push harder: tighter check-ins, a firmer performance conversation, more pressure applied in the same direction. But the fastest move and the most useful move are rarely the same one. In this episode, Rachel Cooke walks through five self-directed questions she uses with coaching clients whose teams have stalled, from "what if I'm wrong" to "can you define good" to "what distance have you already traveled." Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
Five moves to tell a better story in your year-end review
22/09/2026 Duração: 10min914. How do you get ready for your year-end review? And should you be starting now? Most of us reduce our professional story to the obvious stuff – titles, job descriptions, the big projects – and lose the truest evidence of how we actually work. Borrowing a page from college-admissions expert Sara Harberson, Rachel walks through five moves to uncover your fuller professional story, with enough time for year-end. Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
The unsexy fix for meetings, deadlines, and cross-team conflict
15/09/2026 Duração: 12min913. When something's broken at work, we reach for the big fix — the reorg, the new tool, the strategy overhaul. But ask people to describe their perfect coffee and they'll say rich, dark, bold. Put a cup in front of them and they reach for weak and milky. Rachel Cooke applies that same gap to work, where what's holding you back usually isn't strategy. It's the thousand small snags you've stopped noticing. Here's how to find one and ease it from right where you sit.Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
How to handle uncertainty at work when your boss doesn't have the answers
08/09/2026 Duração: 10min912. Your boss used to have answers. Now they've got questions. It feels destabilizing - but Rachel makes the case that this is the opening of a lifetime. When certainty disappears, the old rules about who has the answers go with it. Four bold moves for a moment that's wide open.Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
How to build workplace community in a remote AI-driven world
01/09/2026 Duração: 11min911. You can spend an entire day on video calls and still not have one real conversation. The connection that used to come free with the office doesn't come free anymore. After a trip to California wine country, Rachel Cooke found herself fixated less on the wine than on the village each winery had built around itself, and on what that says about connection in a remote, global, AI-driven workplace. Three reasons to build your own village, on purpose.Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
Billy Eichner on why success comes from love not trauma
25/08/2026 Duração: 36min910. What do you do when there's no template for the career you want, no obvious next step, and no one waiting to hand you the opportunity? Comedian, actor, and writer Billy Eichner built his entire career by refusing to wait to be chosen. In this conversation, he and Rachel Cooke get into how you bet on yourself when the path doesn't exist yet, how to keep going through constant rejection without letting it paralyze you, and why the wish to be chosen never fully goes away, even after you've made it.Billy is the force behind "Billy on the Street," a co-writer and star of "Bros," and a familiar face from "Parks and Recreation" and "The Lion King." Here he opens up about his new audio memoir, "Billy on Billy," the parents who built his confidence by never instilling shame in him, the artists like Madonna and Barbra Streisand who taught him defiance, and his belief that success can come from love rather than trauma. If you're trying to go off script and build something no one else can see yet, this one will give
-
Why your hard work isn't paying off and what's really slowing progress
18/08/2026 Duração: 14min909. Your strategy is sound. Your people are talented. Everyone's working harder than ever. So why aren't the results showing up? Rachel makes the case that when work breaks down, we inspect the people when we should be inspecting the work - and shares four questions that reveal the hidden friction quietly taxing your team.Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
A fresh approach to managing burnout
15/08/2026 Duração: 27minOn a road trip, tackling a summer cleanup, or just catching up on podcasts? QDT has you covered with Summer Saturday encores from your favorite shows. See the full Summer Saturday lineup on Spotify and enjoy this episode, which first aired in September 2020.Episode 616 - Burnout is more than just a feeling—untamed, it can pose a real medical risk. Dr. Greg Hammer, an intensive care physician, Stanford University professor, and author of the book GAIN Without Pain: The Happiness Handbook for Medical Professionals, shares his simple, medically-backed framework for conquering burnout and finding your healthier, happier place.Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
When it comes to managing, do I do it fast or right? (Reissue)
11/08/2026 Duração: 08min697. We get a lot of mixed messaging when it comes to managing the tension between speed and efficiency. We need to be sure—to have the data, to have done the research and the analysis before deciding or implementing. But also, we need to be agile, move quickly, test-and-learn, and not fall into analysis-paralysis. How do we find the middle ground?Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com. The episode transcript can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
The awesome power of "No"
08/08/2026 Duração: 08minOn a road trip, tackling a summer cleanup, or just catching up on podcasts? QDT has you covered with Summer Saturday encores from your favorite shows. See the full Summer Saturday lineup on Spotify and enjoy this episode, which first aired in February 2020.Episode 582: Saying "no" is actually makes you more successful at work. These essential strategies will help you set workplace boundaries with grace. Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
How TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie recovered from depression
04/08/2026 Duração: 18min909. Blake Mycoskie built TOMS into a $600 million brand and gave away more than 100 million pairs of shoes — then fell into a seven-year battle with clinical depression after selling the company. He talks with Rachel Cooke about why outward success never made him feel like enough, the limiting belief that drove him for decades, and the small, everyday practices — not the dramatic interventions — that finally pulled him through. He also shares what he's learned interviewing guests like Matthew McConaughey, Kevin Love, and Jewel (whose memoir "Never Broken" he recommends) on his mental wellness podcast "No Magic Pill," plus the story behind Enough, the brand he founded to fund mental health organizations. If you're a high performer who ties your worth to your latest win, this conversation is for you.Content note: this episode discusses depression and suicidal ideation.Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern M
-
How to Think Positive to Be More Productive
01/08/2026 Duração: 08minOn a road trip, tackling a summer cleanup, or just catching up on podcasts? QDT has you covered with Summer Saturday encores from your favorite shows. See the full Summer Saturday lineup on Spotify and enjoy this episode, which first aired in April 2020.Episode 594: In times of crisis, negative thoughts lurk around every corner. Use these techniques to rediscover your optimism and bump up your productivity.Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
Be a goldfish...but only sometimes: when your team should reflect vs. move on
28/07/2026 Duração: 11min907. When should your team reflect on what went wrong, and when should you just move on? Rachel Cooke uses Ted Lasso's "be a goldfish" mantra to unpack the balance between looking back and looking ahead, then shares five questions—three that mine the past, two that aim at the future—to help your team do both intentionally. Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
How to make your life effortless
25/07/2026 Duração: 11minOn a road trip, tackling a summer cleanup, or just catching up on podcasts? QDT has you covered with Summer Saturday encores from your favorite shows. See the full Summer Saturday lineup on Spotify and enjoy this episode, which first aired in Jne 2021.Episode 654: Greg McKeown, bestselling author of Essentialism and Effortless, joins the Modern Mentor podcast to share his wisdom on making things simpler, smaller, and generally more effective.Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
Why your team is exhausted and still missing targets
21/07/2026 Duração: 11min906. Leaders are frustrated that teams aren't delivering. Teams are exhausted and hitting walls. And the instinct is to pull harder. But the real work is finding the knots leadership has inadvertently tied, and undoing them one at a time. In this episode, Rachel talks about the unsexy work that actually unlocks speed.Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
How to increase your productivity by managing your energy
18/07/2026 Duração: 07minSummer Saturdays: Best of QDT Encore Episode: This episode originally aired January 2020.581. Running all-out all the time is the sure path to burnout. Productivity happens when you know how to use your energy wisely.Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
Are you successmaxxing?
14/07/2026 Duração: 12min905. Everyone's maxxing something now. Their sleep, their skin, their fiber, even their jawline. But underneath the ring lights, each of these trends is quietly teaching a real principle about getting better at something. This week, Rachel Cooke builds the trend nobody's named yet, successmaxxing, by stealing the smartest lesson from five maxxing trends and pointing it straight at your career.Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast, hosted by Rachel Cooke!Find more from Rachel at LeadAboveNoise.com.Have a question for Modern Mentor? Email: [email protected] Discover more from Modern Mentor!FacebookLinkedInNewsletterTranscripts available on your podcast app or QuickandDirtyTips.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.