The Productivity Paradox: Are We Actually Busy?

Work desk with computer, phone, pile of documents and sticky-notes.

The Illusion of Productivity

We live in an age where being busy is often equated with being productive. Many of us measure productivity by how packed our calendars are, how many emails we’ve answered, or how long we’ve been online. But here’s the question: Are we truly achieving meaningful results, or are we just busy?

Busy ≠ Productive

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that being busy means we’re being productive. However, true productivity comes from impact, not just activity.

Work expands to fill time: Tasks often get stretched to fit the time we have, even when the task could have been completed more quickly.
Multitasking vs. Deep Work: Juggling multiple tasks might seem efficient, but studies show that switching between them reduces focus and quality

Team sitting in a meeting room discussing and collaborating together

How Organizations Get Stuck in the Busyness Trap

Organizations often fall into the trap of measuring productivity by activity instead of results, creating a culture of “doing” without meaningful outcomes. While it might feel like progress is being made, these actions can often be distractions from what truly moves the needle.

Meetings that could be emails (or calls): Too many meetings consume time that could be better spent on actual work. On the flip side, emails can also be a time sink. Sometimes it takes longer to craft a concise, hard-hitting email with a clear call-to-action (CTA) than it does to create the actual item the email is requesting approval for. Ironically, the time spent drafting the perfect email could have been used to complete the task itself, especially if the email is more about approval than providing new or critical information.
Reactive work vs. Proactive strategy: This reactive approach can lead to a cycle where teams feel constantly overwhelmed, with each new issue feeling like a fire that needs to be put out. The result is that employees spend all their energy and focus on the day-to-day chaos, leaving little room for strategic thinking, innovation, or long-term planning. And the deeper problem here is that the urgency of these issues can create a false sense of productivity when really it’s stunting progress and placing a cloud of doubt over innovation and growth.
Performance metrics focused on output: Metrics that track completed tasks rather than actual results can foster a false sense of productivity. A team might have several items ticked off on their to-do list, but none of those tasks may have actually driven meaningful impact toward larger goals.

Example: Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) Store Traffic vs. Online Sales

Issue: The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) has long tracked store traffic and sales per square foot as key performance indicators (KPIs). These output-driven metrics dominated the company’s strategy for years, with a heavy emphasis on in-store sales while stalling on revitalizing the in-person shopping experience through new layouts and store design. As e-commerce grew, HBC failed to pivot its KPIs quickly enough to include digital sales and customer retention, focusing more on foot traffic and in-store performance in an outdated environment.

Outcome: As e-commerce boomed, HBC continued to prioritize metrics that were more relevant to physical retail, leading to underinvestment in its online channels. This limited the company’s ability to capture online revenue, and it lost market share to companies that had better integrated their digital and physical presences and kept up with in-person shopping trends.

Lesson: Focusing on output metrics like store traffic and sales per square foot in the face of a shifting market towards online shopping resulted in HBC losing competitive ground. A focus on outcomes like customer lifetime value (CLV) and omni-channel performance might have better aligned their metrics with the market's needs.

outdated department store, one customer walking through beauty aisle

Shifting from Busy to Productive

As Cal Newport argues in Deep Work, the ability to focus without distraction is becoming increasingly rare and valuable. Newport’s book emphasizes that deep, focused work—where you concentrate intensely on a single task without interruptions—is the key to achieving high levels of productivity and producing quality work.

This principle aligns with the idea that being busy doesn’t necessarily mean being productive. Newport’s concept of deep work challenges us to block out distractions, ignore the "shiny objects" that pull us in different directions (like unnecessary meetings or emails), and instead dedicate our attention to the tasks that truly move the needle.

It’s time to focus on what we do, not just how much we do. True productivity is about creating meaningful results, and that starts with changing how we approach communication and collaboration.

Measure outcomes, not activity: Shift focus to metrics that reflect actual results—how much value did you create, not how many tasks you completed?
Prioritize deep work: Block out time for uninterrupted focus and minimize distractions for maximum results. In a work environment where communication is king, we often lose track of the work itself by getting bogged down in emails, approvals, and coordination. The time spent drafting the perfect email—analyzing the recipient’s communication style, choosing the right tone, and ensuring a clear CTA—can take longer than completing the task itself. And that’s before you factor in the potential for getting a vague or incomplete reply that stalls progress even more. For example, coordinating a project could involve sending organized data off to be wireframed by another team. If they take two extra days to deliver, which then coincides with a stakeholder’s PTO, it sets the project back a full week, wasting not just time but also resources. The effort spent crafting the perfect email to communicate the delay, and ensuring everyone is on the same page, just adds to the time and energy already lost.
Challenge unnecessary processes: Evaluate existing processes regularly. Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn’t mean it’s the best way. A critical step in becoming more productive is streamlining communication and cutting out unnecessary delays caused by overly formal or overly complicated messaging. Relieve your anxiety over crafting the "right" communication or waiting for responses and focus instead on the deliverable itself.

Split screen image. Left side man sitting at desk on cellphone with headphones on, computer open and piles of paper. Right side man engaging in focused work on dual monitors

Closing Thought

The paradox of productivity is that the busiest people often accomplish the least.

So the next time your calendar is packed, your inbox is overflowing, and your day feels like a never-ending cycle of meetings and putting out fires, take a step back. Prioritize what truly matters, delegate where you can, and focus on the work that drives real impact. Progress isn’t measured by how busy you are—it’s measured by the value you create with the time and energy you invest.