Marcus governed an empire and still found time to write daily. Not because he was more efficient than you. Because he understood what to refuse.
Most executives I observe are not failing because they lack intelligence or drive. They are failing because they cannot distinguish between activity and purpose. The calendar is full. The inbox is full. The sense of meaningful progress is empty. This is not a time-management problem. It is an examined-life problem.
Rumi, from a very different tradition, speaks of longing as a form of direction — the ache toward something truer than what you are currently doing. I find this useful, surprisingly. The executive who feels a persistent low-grade exhaustion in the midst of a successful career is often experiencing precisely that: a longing for work that is actually their work, rather than work that has accumulated around them.
The meeting agenda question is practical. Go through this week's calendar and ask, for each item: what is the decision I am trying to reach, and am I the right person to reach it? Not "is this interesting" or "is this expected of me" — but: is this mine?
The examined work life is not about escaping obligation. It is about ensuring that what you carry is actually yours to carry, and carrying it with full attention rather than divided, exhausted presence.
The Stoic answer to burnout is not rest. It is purpose.