Have you ever noticed how some days you're completely busy, but at the end, you wonder what you actually accomplished? You've checked off lots of boxes on your to-do list, answered countless emails, and sat through meeting after meeting - yet that feeling of real achievement just isn't there.

I've seen this happen with many leaders I've worked with. They work incredibly hard but struggle to point to meaningful progress. This problem has a name: aimless productivity.

Let me explain what's happening and how you can fix it.

Why Being Busy Isn't the Same as Being Productive

Think about your typical workday. Your calendar is packed with meetings. Your inbox never empties. Your to-do list keeps growing. All of this activity creates an illusion that you're being productive.

But research shows that being busy without purpose can actually harm you. Scientists found that when people can't mentally disconnect from meaningless work, they experience higher levels of exhaustion and lose interest in their jobs over time (Sonnentag et al., 2017).

What Happens to Your Brain During Pointless Work

Your brain is smart enough to know when you're spinning your wheels. When you engage in work without clear purpose, your brain recognizes the disconnect between your effort and any meaningful reward.

Studies have shown that our bodies respond differently to different types of stress at work. When we face challenges with clear purpose, we respond positively. But when we face stress without purpose or control, our bodies enter a "threat state" that leads to fatigue and poor performance (Michel et al., 2016).

This kind of stress can cause:

• Higher levels of stress hormones
• Decreased focus and concentration
• Reduced ability to think creatively
• Difficulty making good decisions

Other research found that employees who face ongoing workplace stress without meaningful resolution are more likely to engage in negative behaviors toward coworkers and collaborate less effectively (Rosen et al., 2016).

How to Break Free: Strategic Work vs. Busy Work

The solution is learning to recognize the difference between two types of work:

Strategic work: Activities that significantly advance your important goals

Busy work: Activities that fill time without creating meaningful impact

Here are three practical ways to shift from aimless busyness to meaningful productivity:

1. Implement the Strategic Impact Filter

Before adding anything to your calendar or to-do list, run it through this quick assessment:

• Will this activity significantly impact my top 3 priorities?
• Can I articulate the specific value this creates?
• If I eliminated this activity entirely, what would the actual consequence be?

This filter typically reveals that up to 40% of your current activities create minimal impact.

For example, I recently helped a CTO evaluate his weekly recurring meetings using this filter. He discovered that 9 of his 22 standing meetings could be eliminated entirely, freeing up 7 hours weekly for strategic work.

2. Create Deliberate Strategy Blocks

Your most important thinking work deserves protected time on your calendar:

• Schedule three 90-minute blocks weekly for pure strategic thinking
• Make these blocks non-negotiable (treat them like important external meetings)
• Disconnect from all notifications during these periods
• Focus each block on a specific strategic question or challenge

These blocks will feel uncomfortable at first. Your brain, habituated to constant stimulation, will resist the slower pace of deep thinking. Push through this resistance—it signals you're breaking the busyness addiction.

3. Implement the Weekly Value Review

Every Friday, take 20 minutes to complete this powerful reflection:

1. What were the 3 most valuable contributions I made this week?
2. What activities consumed time but created minimal value?
3. What one strategic priority will I prioritize next week?
4. What specifically will I stop doing to create space for this priority?

This practice reorients your attention from activity to impact, creating a feedback loop that gradually reshapes your work patterns.

The Bottom Line

Aimless productivity isn't just an efficiency problem—it's a well-researched pathway to burnout and career stagnation. But with deliberate practices that prioritize impact over activity, you can break free from productivity theater and achieve meaningful results.

The path forward isn't about doing more. It's about doing what matters.

Until next time!

References:

Rosen, C. C., Koopman, J., Gabriel, A. S., & Johnson, R. E. (2016). Who strikes back? A daily investigation of when and why incivility begets incivility. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(11), 1620-1634. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000140​

Sonnentag, S., Venz, L., & Casper, A. (2017). Advances in recovery research: What have we learned? What should be done next? Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(3), 365-380. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000079​

Michel, A., Turgut, S., Hoppe, A., & Sonntag, K. (2016). Challenge and threat states in response to daily stressors and their relationship with fatigue. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 25(4), 607-618. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2015.1128414​

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Dr. Oliver Degnan

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