Why Productivity Kills Progress and How to Be Effective Instead

The 3 keys to progress and why being busy isn’t one of them.

Photo by Savannah Wakefield on Unsplash

Even though I love the self-improvement genre, I despise its common trope: productivity.

Nobody should strive for sheer productivity, because productivity distracts us from the true goal: doing work that matters. Here’s why:

Productivity Misses the Point

Productivity is about completing the greatest quantity of tasks possible. A productive day is one spent ticking off a long checklist, a calendar packed with meetings, and an 8 to 12 hour-long workday.

But these tasks have nothing to do with making progress. While productivity is about busyness, progress is about effectiveness.

Progress requires the accomplishment of a few key tasks. Progress is five sales made, ten-pages written or three miles run. Most other tasks, while feeling like work, are simply irrelevant to making progress.

To get healthier you have to move more. Watching workout videos, googling recipe books or buying running shoes will not make you healthier.

To build a business you have to make sales. Editing your website, having check-in meetings with staff and watching Elon Musk…