It’s a question I’ve been sitting with—especially as someone who spent more than 15 years tracking time in 15-minute increments, optimizing for KPIs, and rallying teams to deliver against detailed plans. Productivity, in that context, had clear indicators: billable hours, project milestones, performance dashboards.
Now, as a business owner building something from scratch, those old metrics don’t quite fit. But the question still does:
Is how I spend my time actually moving the needle—on my own growth and on the future of what I’m building?
We often assume we’re making progress and contributing in a meaningful way because we’re working hard. That mindset served us well early in our careers. It got us promotions, recognition, and opportunity. But eventually, the expectations shift.
As you rise through an organization or take on broader responsibilities, the work becomes less about outputs and more about outcomes. Less about checking boxes and more about making decisions, setting direction, and influencing others.
And that’s where things break down.
I’ve coached incredibly talented leaders who are stuck at a plateau—not because they lack skill or dedication, but because they haven’t recalibrated their internal definition of productivity to match what the organization truly needs from them.
They’re doing too much of the wrong thing.
They’re managing rather than leading.
They’re busy—but not aligned.
This becomes especially critical during transitions—from individual contributor to manager, from manager to senior leader, and from there to the executive ranks.
At each level, the work shifts.
Your value shifts.
And how you spend your time must shift with it.
The higher you go, the more your day involves intangibles—setting priorities, building relationships, influencing culture, thinking ahead. And yet many leaders continue to evaluate their own productivity through the lens of output. It’s no surprise that this leads to burnout, confusion, and stalled growth.
And here’s the deeper truth:
The definition of what’s productive isn’t yours alone to write.
You may feel like your time is well spent—but if your board, your CEO, your investors, or your clients see it differently, that disconnect will eventually become a barrier to your success.
So here’s the question I keep coming back to:
Does your definition of productivity match the one held by the people you’re accountable to?
If not, no amount of hard work will be enough.
The good news? You can rewrite the story. Productivity is not just about doing more—it’s about doing what matters most. And that starts by making sure you and the people counting on you are telling the same story about what “productive” really looks like.