Productivity, Control, and Learning to Surrender

My Brain Doesn’t Have an Off Switch

I have a confession: my brain never really shuts off.

I’m always looking for the next tweak, the next system, the next small thing I can do to make life run a little smoother — for my family, for my clients, for myself. My husband would probably say it drives him a little crazy. I would say it makes me good at what I do.

But here’s something I’ve had to get honest about lately: underneath all of that productivity wiring is a need for control. And at the root of that need for control? Anxiety.

When things don’t have a place, my nervous system knows it. When there’s no plan, my brain goes into overdrive until there is one. Getting everything documented and accounted for isn’t just a preference, it’s how I function.

The Tension Between Control and Surrender

And yet, I’m also a Christian. I believe I’m called to cast my anxieties on the Lord. To surrender the things that aren’t mine to carry. Those two things can feel like they’re in conflict, but I don’t think they have to be. I’ve learned to do everything I can with what’s in my control and genuinely release the rest. Not as a cop-out. As an act of trust.

What Controlling the Controllables Actually Looks Like

So what does “controlling the controllables” actually look like day to day?

For me right now, it’s the small stuff. It’s applying the two-minute rule so tiny tasks don’t quietly pile up into a mountain. It’s lowering my bar for what a clean house looks like when you have a toddler (dishes done, trash wrangled, laundry off the floor… that’s a win). It’s getting my inbox to almost zero every day using the Boomerang app so I’m not carrying open loops in my head. And it’s cleaning out my utensil drawer.

That last one sounds ridiculous, but hear me out. I opened that drawer multiple times a day and every single time, it bothered me. Too much stuff. No order. So I fixed it. Twenty minutes, and now every time I open it I feel lighter.

Small Systems, Big Returns

That’s the thing about small systems: they add up. Not because they’re life-changing on their own, but because every time your brain doesn’t have to spend energy on something, you get that energy back for something that actually matters.

Control the controllables. Surrender the rest. Build systems that make the right thing the easy thing.

That’s the season I’m in and maybe you are too. I created a podcast episode about this topic and if you’re interested in listening, here’s the video for your viewing pleasure!

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