I appreciate how practical your framework is, Matt.
One protected deep-work block, visible response windows, and a weekly audit to evaluate what you actually moved forward. It’s simple enough that anyone can do it, but very powerful.
There's always more to do than we can get done. Great points on making sure you're being productive with the things you actually want to produce, and not just knocking things off your list for the sake of feeling productive.
Great post! I use this same framework because when the end of the day/week comes, and I write down what I accomplished but the theme is “answered emails” versus “completed xyz project or launched xyz initiative” I know there’s an issue. I started blocking my calendar each day for 1-3 deep work items I want to accomplish, and separate time for those short, but necessary items. Colleagues will joke or ask about it, but in all seriousness it works and ensures all of my time is maximized.
Not that long ago I was asked by an old friend who was Finance Director of a Care / Housing group to help his “home sales” team increase “home occupancy”.
He thought they needed a CRM system to help them find the right occupants quicker, thus having less vacant possession time.
The team felt they were already a high performing team, with no time to do anything more.
After just 1-2 days of workshopping their processes / practices it was easy to spot that CRM wasn’t the issue but time was.
In summary they were occupying themselves every minute of every day doing things that were not simply inefficient, but that they just didn’t need to do.
Eg they felt that someone had to be in the office to answer a phone all day. When their sales cycle lasted months not minutes.
I asked them why they couldn’t simply install an ansa machine for certain periods of the day. (Eg still being there in person for say 10-12 & 2-4). Take message, call back when they weee focused on it.
They said… “can we actually do that”. I said,
“Why the hell not, I’ll buy you one for £50 if you want”. And for less than £50 you can test out the theory for say 1-2 months and see if you feel you’ve got time to focus on the things that make the difference between closing a sale more quickly and not.
Now the point of this story is that later their head of sales came up to me and said…
“We might be busy, but really we’re just busy fools”.
Thanks Matt. "Technically responsive to everyone except your own goals." That's the trap in one sentence. The dopamine from clearing emails and answering calls feels like the work. It feels like being needed. It's neither. The real work is always the thing you keep pushing to tomorrow because it requires deep thinking without a deadline. Nobody rewards you for that kind of work until it's done.
I appreciate how practical your framework is, Matt.
One protected deep-work block, visible response windows, and a weekly audit to evaluate what you actually moved forward. It’s simple enough that anyone can do it, but very powerful.
Thank you for the kind words, and glad to hear it’s helpful! 😊
There's always more to do than we can get done. Great points on making sure you're being productive with the things you actually want to produce, and not just knocking things off your list for the sake of feeling productive.
You got it - it’s well and good to check things off a list but does it actually move the needle?
Great post! I use this same framework because when the end of the day/week comes, and I write down what I accomplished but the theme is “answered emails” versus “completed xyz project or launched xyz initiative” I know there’s an issue. I started blocking my calendar each day for 1-3 deep work items I want to accomplish, and separate time for those short, but necessary items. Colleagues will joke or ask about it, but in all seriousness it works and ensures all of my time is maximized.
Thanks Tiffany! I’ve been enjoying exploring time blocking more as well, and it is helpful!
We spend our days managing our own busyness and have fooled ourselves into thinking that this is productivity.
Work is meant to reveal the person.
Busyness just buries it under a fantasy. That fantasy is that productivity=value.
And I think also in looking busy, a lot of people unfortunately also lose in that instance their sense of meaning.
Not that long ago I was asked by an old friend who was Finance Director of a Care / Housing group to help his “home sales” team increase “home occupancy”.
He thought they needed a CRM system to help them find the right occupants quicker, thus having less vacant possession time.
The team felt they were already a high performing team, with no time to do anything more.
After just 1-2 days of workshopping their processes / practices it was easy to spot that CRM wasn’t the issue but time was.
In summary they were occupying themselves every minute of every day doing things that were not simply inefficient, but that they just didn’t need to do.
Eg they felt that someone had to be in the office to answer a phone all day. When their sales cycle lasted months not minutes.
I asked them why they couldn’t simply install an ansa machine for certain periods of the day. (Eg still being there in person for say 10-12 & 2-4). Take message, call back when they weee focused on it.
They said… “can we actually do that”. I said,
“Why the hell not, I’ll buy you one for £50 if you want”. And for less than £50 you can test out the theory for say 1-2 months and see if you feel you’ve got time to focus on the things that make the difference between closing a sale more quickly and not.
Now the point of this story is that later their head of sales came up to me and said…
“We might be busy, but really we’re just busy fools”.
I smiled 😉.
Ah, such a great lesson. Thank you for sharing, Mark!
Thanks Matt. "Technically responsive to everyone except your own goals." That's the trap in one sentence. The dopamine from clearing emails and answering calls feels like the work. It feels like being needed. It's neither. The real work is always the thing you keep pushing to tomorrow because it requires deep thinking without a deadline. Nobody rewards you for that kind of work until it's done.