
Beyond the To-Do List - Productivity for Work and Life
Conversations with productivity experts, authors, and creatives on how to implement productivity strategies in both your professional and personal life. The goal as you listen is to help you gain perspective, practical knowledge, and productivity insights for living a whole life that goes Beyond The To-Do List.
Latest episodes

Mar 31, 2014 • 42min
Tony Dilorenzo on Intentionality and Intimacy in Relationships
Tony DiLorenzo and his wife Alisa created ONE Extraordinary Marriage to educate, entertain, encourage, and inspire people to have mind-blowing intimacy in their marriages. Tony & Alisa are experienced marriage coaches, podcasters, and speakers. They specialize in helping time-crunched couples take action and enjoy the sex, love, and commitment they desire in their marriage.Being fit and healthy and the associated intimacy it brings to their relationship have helped Tony and Alisa through good times and bad. Their hiking escapades early in their marriage led them to the three highest peaks in Southern California, backpacking treks in Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Death Valley, as well as fun-filled dates along the beach or resorts closer to home.Mentioned in this episode:ONE Extrordinary Marriage Episode 140 – Scheduling Sex
STOP the glorification of BUSY.Click To TweetPlease connect with me
Subscribe, rate, and review in iTunes
Follow @ErikJFisher
Check out more Noodle.mx Network shows
The Audacity to Podcast: "How-to" podcast about podcasting
Beyond the To-Do List: Personal and professional productivity
The Productive Woman: Productivity for busy women
ONCE: Once Upon a Time podcast
Welcome to Level Seven: Agents of SHIELD and Marvel’s cinematic universe podcast
Are You Just Watching?: Movie reviews with Christian critical thinking
the Ramen Noodle: Family-friendly clean comedy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 20, 2014 • 50min
Chris Ducker on Delegating for Tasks, Roles and Team Building
Chris Ducker was working 14-hour days, six days a week, spending very little time with family and working ‘in’ his business, instead of ‘on’ it and was tired in every possible way. He’s come a long way since then, creating the new business Virtual Staff Finder, the New Business Podcast, and his new book – Virtual Freedom: How to Work with Virtual Staff to Buy More Time, Become More Productive, and Build Your Dream Business. He’s also released a podcast series that corresponds to the new book.In this episode, Chris and Erik cover:
The false believe that you can fill every role in a growing business
Super hero syndrome
Chris’ definition of the word Entrepreneur = To provide answers to questions and solutions to problems
Being a 16 hour a day, 7 day a week entrepreneur doesn’t make you a more successful entrepreneur.
Chris’s 3 lists:
The things you hate doing
The things you can’t do
The things you shouldn’t be doing
You need to do only the things that you are uniquely qualified to do.—@jaybaerClick To TweetIf you’re doing things other people on your team can do, you’re robbing them of opportunity.—Jay BaerClick To TweetChris’s rule for email – Never open an email more than once by:
reply or forward it
archive it
delete it
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Mar 11, 2014 • 50min
Dustin Riechmann Talks About Money, Marriage and Fitness
Dustin Riechmann is the creator of the site Engaged Marriage, where he seeks to help you live a married life you love. Dustin Riechmann is just a normal guy with a passion for marriage and life and a knack for helping others achieve big things. He’s an engineer by trade, and tries to be a good husband and a mostly patient Dad to his three great kids.Dustin and Erik are doing a live online workshop and recording called “How to Enjoy More Quality Time & Be Super Productive as a Couple”. Sign up to be part of this live event, or to grab the recording later.What you will learn from this workshop:
How to do a Time Makeover that will get your schedule under control & give you more quality time to enjoy with your family
How to craft your perfect morning routine to start with your day with energy & enthusiasm
How to create powerful habits & healthy boundaries on your time that will give you the focus you and your family deserve during your work, family and play time
How to use three simple, powerful productivity hacks to get more done each day in less time (these will surprise you)
How to create more quality time & margin in your life – so you can excel in your work while enjoying a HAPPY marriage & family life that you LOVE!
Register for this workshop or to grab the recording NOW!Please connect with me
Subscribe, rate, and review in iTunes
Follow @ErikJFisher
Check out more Noodle.mx Network shows
The Audacity to Podcast: "How-to" podcast about podcasting
Beyond the To-Do List: Personal and professional productivity
The Productive Woman: Productivity for busy women
ONCE: Once Upon a Time podcast
Welcome to Level Seven: Agents of SHIELD and Marvel’s cinematic universe podcast
Are You Just Watching?: Movie reviews with Christian critical thinking
the Ramen Noodle: Family-friendly clean comedy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 27, 2014 • 52min
Jim Woods on Seasons, Hustle and Goals
Jim Woods is a Writer, Coach, and Instigator. He is the co-author of ‘Ready Aim Fire! – A Practical Guide to Making and Achieving Goals’. The book is also co-authored by the host of this podcast, Erik Fisher. In this more raw episode than usual, Erik and Jim talk a bit about personal productivity struggles, how life is seasonal, the need to simplify, and why they rebranded their 1st book a few months after it’s release.Referenced in this episode:
Derek Webb‘s appearance on the Life in the Woods Podcast: Part 1 Part 2
Jon Acuff
Crystal Paine
Ben Dempsey
Jeremy Statton
Breaking Bad
Bacon
The Elvis
Make sure to support this podcast and both Erik and Jim by grabbing a copy of their first book: ‘Ready Aim Fire! – A Practical Guide to Making and Achieving Goals’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 17, 2014 • 1h 24min
Merlin Mann on Anxiety, Relationships and Expectations
Merlin Mann is an Independent Writer, Speaker, and Broadcaster at MerlinMann.com and Cohost of Back to Work Podcast on the 5 by 5 Podcast Network with Dan Benjamin. You can find Merlin’s previous appearance on this podcast here.Covered in this episode:
Back to Work Episode 153: ‘Anxiety’s a Goat‘
Getting Things Done by David Allen ©DavidCo, 2001.
The unknown inboxes out there that we don’t know about that keep us up at night
The inboxes we have accepted
Being sober about acknowledging the known inboxes we have in our lives
Interruptions vs. Distractions
How thoughts effect our feelings and vice versa
The real inbox zero: What percentage of your brain is somewhere you don’t want it to be right now.
Calendars 5
Fantastical
Omnifocus
Mailbox
Awayfind
Sanebox
Unroll.me
Please connect with me
Subscribe, rate, and review in iTunes
Follow @ErikJFisher
Check out more Noodle.mx Network shows
The Audacity to Podcast: "How-to" podcast about podcasting
Beyond the To-Do List: Personal and professional productivity
The Productive Woman: Productivity for busy women
ONCE: Once Upon a Time podcast
Welcome to Level Seven: Agents of SHIELD and Marvel’s cinematic universe podcast
Are You Just Watching?: Movie reviews with Christian critical thinking
the Ramen Noodle: Family-friendly clean comedy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 2, 2014 • 36min
Donald Miller on Focus, Finishing and Living a Meaningful Story
Donald Miller is all about story. He is the author of several books, including multiple New York Times Best Sellers. Donald is also the founder of Storyline, an organization that helps people live better stories. He’s helped thousands overcome a sense of meaninglessness by helping them create their Storyline life plan. If you’re struggling with a sense of meaningless, pick up Storyline today. After studying story for years and successfully using the elements of story to engage customers, Don created StoryBrand, a process any business owner or marketing team can go through to create a communication script that will increase sales. Don is also the creator of the Storyline Productivity Schedule, a free daily schedule using modern psychology to increase a person’s productivity. Don believes getting your story straight changes everything.Covered in this episode:
How Don got started writing
How he continued at it, attained great success and learned to deal with those new expectations
Kept going through a cycle of failure, wrestling with it, success and new expectations
Learned how the principles of a good story can lead to a meaningful life
The Storyline Conference
The Storyline 2.0 Life Plan
The Storyline Productivity Schedule
Life isn’t meaningless. What you do with it can make it FEEL meaningless, but you can fix that. – Donald Miller (Click to Tweet this)
Overcoming Procrastination
Focus and Finish
Some of Erik’s Favorite Storyline Blog Posts by Don:
2 Solutions I’ve Found for Productivity
How I Learned to Not be Overwhelmed
You Don’t Have to Make Your Bed to Write a Book
Make sure to go grab the Storyline Productivity Schedule for FREE. The Schedule will help you:
Overcome procrastination
Radically increase productivity
Not feel overwhelmed
Manage your mental energy instead of your time
Enjoy a guilt-free work structure
Create a daily, healthy routine you can repeat for life
Finish the major projects you’ve been dreaming about
Please tweet to Don to thank him for being on the show and let him know what you learned!Please connect with me
Subscribe, rate, and review in iTunes
Follow @ErikJFisher
Check out more Noodle.mx Network shows
The Audacity to Podcast: "How-to" podcast about podcasting
Beyond the To-Do List: Personal and professional productivity
The Productive Woman: Productivity for busy women
ONCE: Once Upon a Time podcast
Welcome to Level Seven: Agents of SHIELD and Marvel’s cinematic universe podcast
Are You Just Watching?: Movie reviews with Christian critical thinking
the Ramen Noodle: Family-friendly clean comedy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 28, 2014 • 52min
David Sparks on iPads, iBooks and Email
David Sparks is an Orange County, California business attorney, geek, podcaster on the Mac Power Users podcast, blogger, and author who writes about finding the best tools, hardware, and workflows for using Apple products to get work done. David also writes for Macworld magazine and speaks about technology.Mentioned in this episode:
Unclutter
Drafts
Publishing on the iBooks Store
Why Email Isn’t Work. (And Why It Is) by Claire Diaz-Ortiz
The Mac Sparky Field Guides Series must be good.It looks like The Lord of the Rings Extended DVD set!Make sure to thank David on Twitter for appearing on this episode.Don’t forget to grab your free audiobook from Audiobooks.com/todoPlease connect with me
Subscribe, rate, and review in iTunes
Follow @ErikJFisher
Check out more Noodle.mx Network shows
The Audacity to Podcast: "How-to" podcast about podcasting
Beyond the To-Do List: Personal and professional productivity
The Productive Woman: Productivity for busy women
ONCE: Once Upon a Time podcast
Welcome to Level Seven: Agents of SHIELD and Marvel’s cinematic universe podcast
Are You Just Watching?: Movie reviews with Christian critical thinking
the Ramen Noodle: Family-friendly clean comedy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 22, 2014 • 42min
Crystal Paine on Priorities, Saying No, and Saying Goodbye to Survival Mode
Crystal Paine is the founder of the popular blog MoneySavingMom.com. The mission of the blog is talking about Intentional Finance, Intentional Family, and Intentional Business.Her new book Say Goodbye to Survival Mode is aimed as a help to the super busy, the stressed out, and the overtired. In it, she gives you ways to:
Feel healthier and more energetic by setting priorities and boundaries
Eliminate stress with savvy management of your time, money, and home
Get more done by setting realistic goals and embracing discipline
Rediscover your passions—and the confidence to pursue them
Grab your copy here!Click to tweet these great quotes from Crystal in this episode:There are seasons in life. We can’t do EVERYthing in EVERY season. - @MoneySavingMomClick To TweetIf you're exhausted & overwhelmed, step back & cut out everything that is not a necessity. - @MoneySavingMomClick To TweetWhen you evaluate all your commitments, opportunities + to-do’s, very few are necessities for life. - @MoneySavingMomClick To TweetIt’s easy for us to feel obligated to everyone. - @MoneySavingMomClick To TweetBurning the candle at both ends doesn’t give you superpowers, it just makes you exhausted. - @MoneySavingMomClick To TweetWhen you’re running on empty, you won't be running much longer. - @MoneySavingMomClick To TweetPlease make sure to tweet to Crystal Paine and let her know you appreciate her appearance on this episode!Make sure to grab your free audiobook from Audiobooks.com!Please connect with me
Subscribe, rate, and review in iTunes
Follow @ErikJFisher
Check out more Noodle.mx Network shows
The Audacity to Podcast: "How-to" podcast about podcasting
Beyond the To-Do List: Personal and professional productivity
The Productive Woman: Productivity for busy women
ONCE: Once Upon a Time podcast
Welcome to Level Seven: Agents of SHIELD and Marvel’s cinematic universe podcast
Are You Just Watching?: Movie reviews with Christian critical thinking
the Ramen Noodle: Family-friendly clean comedy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 17, 2014 • 34min
Jon Acuff on Routines, Work Spaces, and Hustle
Jon Acuff is the New York Times Bestselling author of four books including his most recent, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average & Do Work that Matters.For 15 years he’s helped some of the biggest brands in the world tell their story, including The Home Depot, Bose, Staples, and the Dave Ramsey Team. Most recently he’s spoken to hundreds of thousands of people at conferences, colleges, companies and churches. In 2010 he used his influence with his tribe to build two kindergartens in Vietnam. Jon lives with his wife Jenny and two daughters in Franklin, TN.Listen to Jon’s first appearance on Beyond the To-Do List here.Some of my favorite recent blog posts by Jon (& Jenny Acuff!)
A lesson is too Jon & I more than 9 years to learn. (by Jenny)
The hardest lesson I learned in 2013.
Quit trying to turn lead into gold.
Why some (most) dreams don’t work.
How I write tweets.
The best place to write a book!
How to get more awesome work done.
Chris Rock doesn’t care about your sizzle.
Do you need money to dream?
Please let Jon know you appreciated his appearance on this show by clicking here to tweet him a thank you!Make sure to take advantage of this episodes sponsor Audiobooks.com gift of a FREE audiobook when signing up here.Please connect with me
Subscribe, rate, and review in iTunes
Follow @ErikJFisher
Check out more Noodle.mx Network shows
The Audacity to Podcast: "How-to" podcast about podcasting
Beyond the To-Do List: Personal and professional productivity
The Productive Woman: Productivity for busy women
ONCE: Once Upon a Time podcast
Welcome to Level Seven: Agents of SHIELD and Marvel’s cinematic universe podcast
Are You Just Watching?: Movie reviews with Christian critical thinking
the Ramen Noodle: Family-friendly clean comedy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 13, 2014 • 43min
Tony Stubblebine on the Habit of Making Habits
Tony Stubblebine is the CEO and Co-founder of Lift. Before that he was the founder of CrowdVine, and contributor to Wesabe, Odeo, and O’Reilly Media. Lift is an app designed to help you unlock your potential and help you reach your goals. Lift provides you steps and milestones to make goals manageable, daily motivation, and community support.Covered in this episode:
Lift 2.0
Positive reinforcement towards goals from an exterior source
Cognitive Budget
Decision fatigue
Habits alleviate cognitive drain
Freeing up cognitive load by creating habits
Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule
Replacement Habits
Behavior Design
Avoiding paralysis by analysis
The habit of making habits
The surprising number of goals that proves to be the point where success peaks
The quantified diet project
Lift’s How to Meditate page with free guided meditations
Click here to tweet a thank you to Tony for being on the show!Make sure to check out the sponsor for this episode, Audiobooks.com and get your free audiobook!Please connect with me
Subscribe, rate, and review in iTunes
Follow @ErikJFisher
Check out more Noodle.mx Network shows
The Audacity to Podcast: "How-to" podcast about podcasting
Beyond the To-Do List: Personal and professional productivity
The Productive Woman: Productivity for busy women
ONCE: Once Upon a Time podcast
Welcome to Level Seven: Agents of SHIELD and Marvel’s cinematic universe podcast
Are You Just Watching?: Movie reviews with Christian critical thinking
the Ramen Noodle: Family-friendly clean comedy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices