4/28/26

EP 18 Time Billionaires: Reclaiming 90-Second Gaps for Happiness, Focus, and Agency with Rebecca Shaddix | Deep Work Out Loud

Host Julie Harris Oliver interviews business leader and Time Billionaires podcast host Rebecca Shaddix on reclaiming 90-second to 15-minute gaps between meetings to reduce frantic context shifting and improve happiness, energy, and fulfillment. Shaddix describes how a COVID-era habit of replacing scrolling with tiny actions—like brief audiobook listening, pushups, breathing, or stepping outside—compounded into hundreds of books a year and a research-backed framework of six micro-moment categories (reflection/mindset, connection, movement, nature/sensory awareness, play/creativity, and gratitude/mindfulness). She emphasizes planning ahead via a weekly Friday reflection (“what went well, what didn’t, what do I want more of”) and focusing on a realistic “floor” rather than aspirational “ceiling” goals. They also discuss labeling meetings with a single intuitive word to clarify next steps and reduce lingering anxiety, and the broader theme of agency over time as a guardrail against resentment and burnout.


00:00 Welcome and Format

00:36 Meet Rebecca Shaddix

01:50 Time Billionaires Origin

03:35 Why Micro Gaps Matter

08:38 Nature Minutes Add Up

09:10 Plan Your Micro Moments

09:38 Six Micro Moment Categories

10:24 Tiny Creativity Reset

13:31 Balance Without Perfection

15:21 Micro Workouts Not Gyms

16:13 ADHD and Starting Small

18:35 Stop Self Blame

19:14 Floor Not Ceiling

20:13 Mindful Micro Moments

23:11 Gratitude Deep Dives

24:37 Mindfulness Anywhere

25:31 One Word Debriefs

31:06 Reclaim Time Agency

34:10 Closing And Invitation


Next

EP 17 Leading with Humanity in a Polarized, Fast-Changing World with Dr. Kim Stepanski | Deep Work Out Loud