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Why Most Productivity Gurus Are Selling You Snake Oil (And What Actually Works)
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Let me tell you something that'll probably ruffle some feathers in the productivity community.
After seventeen years of consulting with businesses across Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, I've watched thousands of professionals chase the latest productivity hack like it's the bloody holy grail. And here's what I've learnt: 87% of productivity advice is complete rubbish designed to make you feel busy rather than actually get things done.
The productivity industry has become a circus. Everyone's obsessing over apps, colour-coded calendars, and morning routines that would make a monk weep. But here's the uncomfortable truth - the most productive people I know barely follow any of these systems.
Take my client Sarah from a major pharmaceutical company in Perth. She runs three departments, manages 47 staff, and somehow still finds time to coach her daughter's netball team. Her secret? She breaks every productivity rule in the book.
The Myth of Perfect Systems
I used to be one of those consultants who preached the gospel of Getting Things Done. Had my clients set up elaborate task management systems, weekly reviews, the whole shebang. Spent months perfecting these systems. And you know what happened? Their productivity actually went backwards.
Turns out, spending two hours a week maintaining your productivity system isn't particularly... productive.
The real game-changer came when I stopped trying to optimise everything and started focusing on what psychologists call "energy management." Revolutionary concept, right? Working when you have energy instead of when your calendar tells you to.
But here's where most people get it wrong - they think productivity is about doing more things. Wrong. Dead wrong. Productivity is about doing the right things with the least amount of friction.
The Three-Priority Rule (That Everyone Ignores)
Here's something that'll shock you: the most successful executives I work with only focus on three priorities per day. Not thirty. Three.
I remember sitting in a boardroom in Adelaide with a CEO who was drowning in his to-do list. Forty-seven items on it. I asked him to circle the three that would make the biggest difference to his business. He circled one. ONE.
That's when it clicked for me. We're not struggling with productivity - we're struggling with clarity.
The three-priority rule works because it forces you to be honest about what actually matters. And here's the kicker - those three things usually take up your entire day anyway. The difference is, now you're doing them intentionally instead of frantically.
Why Multitasking Is Career Suicide
Let me share something that might upset the "hustle culture" crowd. Multitasking doesn't make you productive. It makes you mediocre at everything.
I've worked with teams at Telstra and Westpac (both fantastic organisations to work with, by the way), and the pattern is always the same. The staff who try to juggle fifteen things at once consistently produce lower-quality work than those who focus on one task at a time.
There's actual science behind this. Your brain takes an average of 23 minutes to refocus after switching tasks. So if you're checking emails every ten minutes, you're literally never operating at full capacity.
The solution? Time blocking. But not the obsessive kind where you schedule bathroom breaks. Just big chunks for big work.
The Uncomfortable Truth About "Busy"
Here's something nobody wants to hear: being busy has become a status symbol in Australia, and it's killing our actual productivity.
I see it in every office I walk into. People wearing their 60-hour weeks like badges of honour. Bragging about how many meetings they attended. Complaining about their overflowing inboxes while secretly loving the attention it brings.
But busy doesn't equal important. Busy often equals avoiding the hard decisions.
The most productive professionals I know are slightly... boring. They leave the office at reasonable hours. They don't check emails at 11 PM. They say "no" to meetings that don't serve a clear purpose.
They've figured out what I took fifteen years to learn: productivity isn't about filling every moment with activity. It's about creating space for the work that actually matters.
The Power of Strategic Laziness
This might sound contradictory, but hear me out. The best productivity tool I've ever discovered is strategic laziness.
I'm talking about being deliberately lazy about unimportant tasks. Automating what you can, delegating what you must, and ignoring what doesn't matter.
Take email. Instead of responding to every message within minutes (which makes you feel productive but achieves nothing), batch your responses. Check email three times a day. That's it.
Or meetings. Start showing up five minutes late to meetings that aren't critical. You'll be amazed how many problems solve themselves in those five minutes.
The Technology Trap
Every week, someone asks me about the latest productivity app. "Have you tried Notion?" "What about Todoist?" "I heard about this new system called..."
Stop.
The best productivity tool is the one you actually use. For most people, that's a pen and paper. Or the notes app on their phone. Or a simple spreadsheet.
I've seen brilliant minds spend hours setting up elaborate digital systems that they abandon within a month. Meanwhile, my most successful clients are still using yellow sticky notes and getting things done.
Technology should simplify your life, not complicate it. If you need a tutorial to use your productivity system, you're doing it wrong.
What Actually Works
After nearly two decades in this game, here's what consistently moves the needle:
Start with energy, not time. Schedule your most important work when you're naturally at your peak. For most people, that's mid-morning. Don't waste that golden time on emails or admin tasks.
Batch similar activities. Do all your phone calls in one block. Process all your emails in another. Your brain works more efficiently when it's not constantly switching contexts.
Learn to say no without guilt. Every yes to something unimportant is a no to something that matters.
Build buffers into your schedule. If you think something will take an hour, block out 90 minutes. Murphy's Law is real, and fighting it is futile.
The Brisbane Airport Revelation
I'll never forget sitting in Brisbane Airport, delayed for three hours, watching a businessman frantically trying to join video calls from his phone. Meanwhile, the woman next to me pulled out a notebook and quietly worked through what looked like strategic planning.
Guess who looked more stressed?
Productivity isn't about being "on" 24/7. It's about being intentional about when you're on and when you're off.
The businessman was performing productivity. The woman was practicing it.
That's the difference between looking busy and being effective. And in today's world, that difference will make or break your career.
The power of productivity isn't in doing more. It's in doing better. Start there, and everything else becomes noise.
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