Productivity Without Burnout: Executing With Agency Instead of the Illusion of Control

Beyond the To-Do List - Productivity for Work and Life

Erik Fisher

Entrepreneurship, Careers, Business, Education, Self-improvement

4.5 • 875 Ratings

🗓️ 8 January 2026

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Welcome to the first episode of 2026! If you’re feeling that “new year, new me” pressure: goals, plans, fresh calendars, the whole thing—this one’s for you. Because when life inevitably punches your perfectly color-coded week in the throat, the issue isn’t your planning… it’s what you thought planning could control. This episode is all about Control vs. Agency—and how to stay productive when outcomes refuse to cooperate.

In this episode we cover:

• Why Control Breaks (and Agency Doesn’t): Control tries to guarantee outcomes; agency chooses your response when the day goes sideways.

• The Identity Trap of Productivity: What happens when “being on top of things” becomes self-worth—and why that makes disruptions feel like failure.

• The 4-Step Agency Process: Name what you’re trying to control, separate what’s in your hands vs. not, choose one “agency lever,” then replan from reality.

• Stabilization Over Catching Up: Why the goal isn’t to “win the week,” but to stop the panic spiral and choose the next stabilizing move.

• Plan Like a Menu (Not a Script): Scripts make you panic when life changes a line; menus give you options when the day changes the plot.

If you’ve been stuck in the loop of “I did everything right and still lost control,” this episode is your reminder that you don’t need a new system—you need a different stance. You may not control the story, but you do get to choose how you show up on the page.

• Brain.fm - Music specifically engineered to help you focus, relax or recharge.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome back to Beyond the To Do List, a podcast about productivity. I'm your host,
0:22.5	Eric Fisher, and welcome to the first episode of 2026. Like a lot of you, maybe feel forced to do,
0:30.4	we're thinking about making goals for this year. And sometimes that comes in the form of resolutions,
0:36.5	which I don't do. And maybe you don't either.
0:39.6	And you can if you want to. I'm not saying don't do that. But I am saying the reason behind the goals,
0:45.5	the reason behind the resolutions is because we want to enact some amount of change. And we feel like
0:52.8	that line in the sand, that dotted or solid calendar
0:57.0	line or flipping of one or ripping one off the calendar, is a perfect time to do that. But
1:01.7	time doesn't necessarily have to work that way. And in fact, what we're trying to do is impose
1:06.9	some amount of control over what is essentially an uncontrollable situation of life. So, quick
1:15.3	story, it's a Monday. You're feeling good. I'm feeling good. You're mapped out. And I don't mean
1:21.2	just like generalities. I mean like you've mapped it out hard. You've got time blocks. You've got
1:27.1	priorities. You've got tasks that are color coded. And it's like you've mapped it out hard. You've got time blocks. You've got priorities. You've got
1:28.5	tasks that are color-coded. And it's like you're trying to impress judges at the International
1:34.2	Calendar Association. But inevitably, Tuesday comes along and everything gets thrown out the window.
1:41.0	And this happens in many ways. A client changes direction, an unexpected or key
1:46.5	meeting gets moved or happens. Something breaks. Somebody needs something right now. How often does that
1:54.8	happen to you? It happens to me all the time. And suddenly that plan, that control is now in your head this, oh, how cute you thought you could do the thing you set out to do.
2:06.1	And I'm not saying you can't, but it comes along and kind of makes you think this narrative of, I did everything right.
2:13.2	I blocked it out.
2:14.1	I tried and I still lost control.
2:17.1	And when that happens, if you're like me,
	...

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