
Short description If you keep waking up and losing the morning to scrolling, this episode is for you. Steven Puri — from IBM and Hollywood sets to building Suka — walks Junaid through the exact mental switches and tiny systems that turn distraction into sustained, creative output. This is not fluff about productivity hacks; it’s a candid, emotional conversation about intention, environment, and the quiet cost of “zero-effort dopamine.” In part two of our conversation, Steven gets tactical: how to define a single daily intention, time-block and time-box effectively, design your physical place for deep work, and use tech (without letting it own you). Practical, humane, and urgent — these are the moves you can test tomorrow that compound over a year. 5 takeaways Intention first: pick one thing each morning that will actually move you or your team forward — and protect your best brain time for it. Simplify to overcome overwhelm: hide the noise; surface the 3 tasks that matter and build momentum. Environment matters: dedicate a place for work so your brain learns to “enter focus” when you walk in. Block, time-box, repeat: treat deep work like a sacred meeting with yourself and limit time to beat Parkinson’s Law. Leverage tech, don’t bow to it: tools like Suka can block distractions, provide music and community, but only after you choose to use them intentionally. 0:00 — Opening & why this conversation matters: from IBM and Hollywood to Suka 2:23 — Start with intention: the single question you must ask each morning 7:28 — Why most people get focus wrong (procrastination vs. distraction) 11:16 — The “phone check” moment: a one-second pause that changes behavior 13:27 — Use place to train your mind: why moving rooms ruins deep work 20:36 — Steven’s top 3 daily techniques: intention, time-blocking, time-boxing 25:25 — Community & flow: why a productivity “run club” helps you actually ship Guest links Suka (product / try free for 7 days): https://suka.co Email (Steven Puri): steven@suka.co How to use this episode: Listen with a notebook. Pause at 2:23 and write your single intention for tomorrow. Block 60–90 minutes in your calendar and treat it like a meeting. Try one of Steven’s micro-experiments for a week (hide all but three tasks; time-box a blog post to 45 minutes; or put your phone in a different room and notice what happens). Small consistent changes here compound into creative freedom — and fewer nights feeling “I didn’t ship today.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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