Hello there! My name is Michael and I am the founder of Nozbe - a tool that helps busy professionals and their teams manage time, tasks and projects - available as a web app as well as native apps for Mac, Windows, Android, iPhone and iPad.
About MichaelSliwinski.com
This is my personal web site, blog and home to my non-Nozbe projects. It is focused on "Passionate Productivity". I believe that if you live with passion and learn to use your time in a smart way thanks to applying productivity habits, tips and tricks, you'll achieve a successful, balanced and fulfilled life.
I write on productivity, passion, life and business (especially startups). I also post about gadgets I use, books I read and other things I find interesting that don't fall in the above categories but help me achieve my goal of a passionate and successful life.
My additional "Productive!" projects
I'm the editor of the Productive! Magazine where together with other productivity experts we share our best tips and tricks. I also run a semi-regular audio and video podcast called Productive! Show where I'm testing the productivity techniques on myself and share my experiences in a more "visible" way than a traditional blog post would.
Popular posts on my blog
Here are some popular categories of posts on my blog:
- Productivity - my productivity tips and tricks
- iPadonly - why I switched to working on the iPad
- Books - (audio) books I recommend
- Business - my experience running a startup
- Life - how I live my life
And here's my entire blog archive. Up until December 2012 I was running two blogs - my personal one under "MichaelNozbe" brand and "Productive Firm". These two are merged together now so in the archive you'll find posts from both blogs.
In the social media
- Twitter: follow @MSliwinski on Twitter
- Facebook: I encourage you to "like" my page
- Instagram: follow the cool photos I post there
- Pinterest: Check out my sketches and other stuff
- LinkedIn: Connect with me professionally
- Google+: That's me if Google+ is your thing
- Picasa: Need photos of me? Here's my gallery
My Biography
To learn more about my Nozbe story, please read this interview with me.
I was born in Gdynia, northern Poland (in Europe) and spent my childhood there. My mom started teaching me English when I was 6 and thus she fostered my interest in languages and traveling... and my father, who was an "electronics technician" got me interested in computers. Now, apart from Polish and English I also speak fluently two other European languages: Spanish and German... and I'm currently learning Japanese (but it's really a hard one!)
I have two university degrees. One from the University of Gdansk (Poland) in Business Economics and one from the Fachhochschule Stralsund (Germany) in Marketing. I also spent a year studying on the Technical University in Valencia (Spain) through the Erasmus exchange program. I loved being a student and encourage young people to finish their degrees - it's an amazing experience and totally worth it.
Right after my graduation in 2003 I set up my own company apivision.com to pursue my interest in the Internet commerce. I founded two startups (Wyslij.info and HitRSS.com) that eventually failed before I finally started something I was truly passionate about and managed to succeed with: Nozbe.
Initially I started Nozbe because I wanted to better manage my time and I was inspired by David Allen's book "Getting Things Done". Back in 2005 I couldn't find a tool that'd work for me so I built my own. I basically rewrote it twice before I showed it to the world in 2007. Nozbe was my side project for an entire year before I decided to focus on running it full time in 2008. Now there is a whole team behind Nozbe which I'm privileged to be working with.
In 2008 I also started the Productive! Magazine thanks to a friend and I love putting out every issue as I get to work with some of the best and most productive people on the planet. In 2009 I started my Productive! Show video series and now I'm trying to make it into a more regular podcast.
For 2013 and beyond I've got big plans including three books (two self-published and one with a major publisher), two new Nozbe-related projects (ground-breaking stuff!) and a new productivity course which I'll deliver in all the languages I know :-)
In my free time I enjoy running, swimming, playing basketball, skiing, writing and reading (or listening to) books. I am a geek who likes technology gadgets (I'm an Apple fanboy) and cars. I am a Christian (Roman Catholic) and believe Jesus Christ to be my savior.
I work from home and everyone on my team works the same way. I believe that "job is not a place to go but a thing you do". I live in a very beautiful place somewhere in Europe with my wife Ewelina (who is a lawyer) and my two amazing daughters: Milena and Emilia. My name in Polish is: Michał Śliwiński.
