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

Episoder

• Team Habits: How Small Actions Create Better Teams and Better Work with Charlie Gilkey 03.06.2026 46min

  Charlie Gilkey shares how small team habits can transform communication, collaboration, and productivity.
• Mentoring: What Most People Get Wrong and How to Do It Right with Claire Diaz-Ortiz 19.05.2026 36min

  Claire Diaz-Ortiz gives mentors and mentees a framework for building the kind of relationships that change the shape of your life.
• Social Media Detox: How to Take a Break from Digital Overload and Get Your Focus Back 07.05.2026 26min

  Erik Fisher shares a practical, research-informed guide to social media detoxes, digital overload, phone notifications, and reclaiming focus through intentional smartphone habits.
• Retreat Rhythms: Monthly, Quarterly, and Annual Practices for Renewal with John Drury 21.04.2026 48min

  John Drury returns to show how monthly, quarterly, and annual rhythms of retreat can helps us with a life-giving rule of life.
• Rule of Life: How Ancient Practices Can Transform Your Productivity and Rest with John Drury 15.04.2026 43min

  John Drury brings ancient wisdom to modern rhythms, showing how a rule of life can transform the way you work, rest, and live.
• Productivity Without Burnout: Executing with Agency Instead of Illusion of Control 08.01.2026 20min

  Erik Fisher explains how shifting from the illusion of control to executing with agency helps you stay productive when life won’t cooperate.
• Productivity A to Z 2025: Letters N Through Z with Mike Vardy 30.12.2025 58min

  Productivity A-Z 2025 - Part 2 of an annual two-part conversation.
• Decision Making: Simple Tools for Deciding Better Every Day with Annie Duke 18.11.2025 59min

  Annie Duke shares simple, practical tools to help you make better everyday decisions and improving how you learn from outcomes.
• Communication: Structuring Your Message So It Can't Be Unheard with Tamsen Webster 08.10.2025 55min

  Tamsen Webster shares how to structure messages around people’s existing beliefs—so your ideas resonate, stick, and create change that lasts.
• Leadership: The MYLO Framework for Managing Yourself to Lead Others with Margaret Andrews 27.09.2025 37min

  Margaret Andrews shares the MYLO framework to help leaders grow with purpose, confidence, and clarity at every career stage.
• Digital Organization: Finding What You Need in Seconds with Shawn Lemon 11.09.2025 45min

  Shawn Lemon shares how to eliminate friction, reduce file chaos, and streamline your digital life.
• Leadership and Energy: How Positive Energy Creates Better Teams with Harry Cohen 04.09.2025 40min

  Dr. Harry Cohen shares how to bring out the best in others by radiating warmth and positivity in every interaction.
• Communication: The Secret Power of Storytelling in How We Connect with Charles Duhigg 29.08.2025 42min

  Charles Duhigg explains how to communicate better by matching your message to facts, feelings, or values
• Learning: Lean Learning and Achieving More by Consuming Less with Pat Flynn 26.08.2025 50min

  Pat Flynn shares how to escape inspiration overload and take focused, timely action through the principles of lean learning.
• Shortcast: Everyday Creativity as a Skill You Can Cultivate with Alan Gannett 21.08.2025 9min

  Alan Gannett shows how creativity isn’t a gift, but a skill you can cultivate by balancing novelty and familiarity.
• Dopamine and Focus: How to Tame Your Brain for Better Productivity with Michael Long 18.08.2025 40min

  Michael Long explains how to understand and tame dopamine—helping you focus, create, and live with more intention.
• Decluttering: Resetting Your Home and Mind for an Intentional Life with Ingrid Jansen 13.08.2025 42min

  Ingrid Jensen shares a step-by-step approach to letting go of clutter, building simple habits, and resetting your home and mindset for a more intentional life.
• Communication: How to Speak Memorably and Captivate Any Audience with Bill McGowan 10.08.2025 38min

  Bill McGowan, author of Speak Memorably: The Art of Captivating an Audience, shares practical ways to make your ideas stick—on stage, on Zoom, and in any high-stakes moment. We get into dynamic delivery, smarter structure, and memorable language devices you can use immediately. In this conversation, we discuss:Dial it up (a bit): Why what feels “over the top” on video usually plays just right.Story over stats: Using Francis Ford Coppola’s “three best things” idea to craft stronger openings and closings.Primacy & recency: Designing beginnings and endings people actually remember (and skipping the dreaded agenda slide).Cliffhangers > previews: Start with something engaging—don’t promise you’ll be engaging later.Slow beats filler: How pacing reduces “uh/you know” and helps you choose better words.Slides with a point: Lead each slide with a clear statement of value; know your closing line before you advance.Be your own brutal editor: Cut 25% from emails and presentations to boost clarity and punch.Levity, not jokes: Use a light touch to build trust and retention; avoid risky stand-up and overdone self-deprecation.Seven memorable devices (highlights): Analogy/metaphor, “creative labels” (e.g., the “toothbrush test”), mirror pairs, original definitions, simple equations/ratios, and smart cliché twists (“survival of the quickest”).Links & resources:Book: Speak Memorably: The Art of Captivating an Audience — Bill McGowanConnect with Bill on LinkedIn Connect with Erik:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ This Podcast is Powered By:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Descript⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Descript 101⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Castmagic⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ecamm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Podpage⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rodecaster Pro⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Top Productivity Books List⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Make sure to grab Shortcasts from Beyond The To-Do List by Blinkist. A Shortcast is a 7-10 min version of a podcast where you get the core takeaways.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• Productivity with Purpose: The FUSE Pathway to Meaningful Work with Paul Kirby 06.08.2025 44min

  Paul Kirby shares how to combine your passions into a purposeful vision using the FUSE framework.
• Creativity: How Motivation, Risk, and Structure Turn Ideas into Action with Zorana Pringle 02.08.2025 37min

  Zorana Pringle reveals how creativity is a process of ongoing decisions and how motivation, attention, risk, and structure help you turn ideas into real action.