Converting Busyness To Progress: What To Do When More Work Doesn’t Equal More Productivity

At CGL, we’re proud of how our teams manage work. We don’t micromanage, we prioritize important work over urgent work wherever possible, and we encourage our team to work at their most productive hours. 

 But that’s not to say we’ve cracked the code. We’re all experienced lawyers, and we’ve all worked somewhere where busyness is a badge of honor. In this post, we’re sharing some lessons we’ve learned from converting busyness to progress.  

The Illusion of Busyness 

One challenge we’ve had to overcome is the illusion of busyness. Busyness feels productive. It even looks productive – you’ve read and responded to the 110 emails you received, all before 9am, and the dopamine hit feels great.   

But without a clear sense of priority, busyness tends to lead to: 

• Task Saturation: When everything feels urgent, teams may spread themselves too thin, bouncing from task to task without completing any of them well. This leaves little room for deep, meaningful work. 

• Reactive Work: Busyness encourages reaction over proactivity. Employees focus on putting out fires, responding to emails, and handling daily crises, often neglecting long-term strategy. 

• Burnout: In a culture where busyness is celebrated, employees are at greater risk of burnout. Constant overwork without clear progress can lead to fatigue, frustration, and ultimately disengagement. 

This is harmful to any business, and it usually leads to a cycle of working harder, not smarter – since everyone is too busy to innovate new processes or to implement new ideas.  

Making The Shift From Busy To Productive 

Here are some of the things we’ve done to make the shift from busy to productive:  

Set Clear, High-Impact Priorities.  

Not all tasks are created equal. Leaders must help teams differentiate between what’s urgent and what’s important. By focusing on high-impact tasks that align with business goals, teams can ensure their energy is spent on activities that drive meaningful progress. 

Actionable tip: Use frameworks like the Eisenhower Matrix (which divides tasks into four quadrants: urgent/important, not urgent/important, urgent/not important, and not urgent/not important) to help prioritize daily activities. Encourage teams to focus on tasks in the “important but not urgent” quadrant—these are often the strategic, long-term efforts. 

Encourage Deep Work.  

Cal Newport’s Deep Work is a great read – but for those who haven’t read it, the book promotes ‘Deep work’ – or uninterrupted periods of focus. This allows employees and leaders to focus on high-impact and complex tasks, without distractions (including emails, instant messaging, or meetings). This work, in our experience, contributes greatly to long-term progress.  

Implementing Deep Work: Create a culture that encourages your team(s) to carve out dedicated periods of time where they ignore distractions and focus on deep work. This could include implementing ‘no interruption’ policies for certain hours in the workday and rewarding focused work over multi-tasking. This might look different to what you expect – for example, walking on a walking pad during meetings instead of clicking on different screens is likely to be more focused.  

Consider An ‘Add-One, Take-One’ Approach. 

Subtraction can supercharge your processes. We do live in an environment where leaders are quick to add extra processes, but rarely remove any that aren’t serving your business anymore. We think celebrating subtraction, as well as encouraging leaders and managers to subtract processes before adding news ones, is incredibly helpful in today’s workplace.  

Measure Productivity By Outcomes, Not Hours of Activity.   

Shift away from an ‘hours warming chairs’ approach and reward results instead. This can require a shift in mentality for some managers, who are used to rewarding workers for long hours. However, it’s essential for businesses that want to have a greater impact.  

We’ve found a results-based performance metric system makes it easier to reward outcomes over output.  

Build a Culture of Proactivity 

Encourage teams to think ahead rather than just reacting to daily demands. Proactive work, such as long-term planning and anticipating potential issues, can prevent the need for constant firefighting and create space for more meaningful contributions. 

Actionable tip: Hold regular strategic sessions that focus on long-term goals and upcoming projects. Empower team members to anticipate challenges and create solutions before they become crises. 

Action Items for Business Leaders 

For business leaders ready to move from busyness to true productivity, here are a few action items to get started: 

• Clarify Business Goals: Ensure that your team understands the company’s long-term vision and how their work contributes to it. This alignment helps employees prioritize tasks that support strategic goals, rather than getting bogged down in everyday noise. 

• Empower Delegation: Leaders who hold onto too many tasks risk overloading themselves and slowing down progress. Encourage leaders and managers to delegate responsibilities where possible to free up time for high-level strategic thinking. 

• Create Accountability Systems: Ensure accountability not for time spent, but for results delivered. Set clear expectations, track progress toward specific outcomes, and give teams the autonomy to decide how they achieve those results. 

• Promote Rest and Recharge: Avoid a culture of constant overwork by promoting healthy work-life balance. Encourage time off, offer mental health days, and ensure employees have the opportunity to recharge. This leads to more sustainable productivity over the long run. 

And if you’re looking for legal counsel that focuses on impact, reach out. We’d love to work with you.  

• Corporate Insights