Busy Isn't Productive

I've been reflecting this week on the difference between being busy and being productive. In consulting, it's easy to confuse activity with progress — filling every hour with meetings, deliverables, and communications without stepping back to ask whether all that activity is moving things in the right direction. The most effective consultants I know are the ones who protect time for thinking. Not just doing, but genuinely thinking about the problem, the approach, and whether the current trajectory is the right one. It's counterintuitive in a profession that bills by the hour, but the quality of thinking directly determines the quality of outcomes.

I learnt this week that the format of a deliverable matters as much as its content. I produced a detailed analysis that was technically excellent but presented in a way that was difficult for the audience to digest. The same content, restructured with a clear executive summary and visual highlights, received a completely different — and much more positive — response. Packaging matters.

End of March and the first quarter of 2026 is done. Looking back, the theme has been consistency. Small habits, maintained daily, have compounded into meaningful changes in how I work and think. The morning reading, the weekly reflections, the evening disconnection — none of them are dramatic individually, but together they've shifted my operating rhythm in a positive direction.

Arc Browser — a rethinking of how web browsers should work. Spaces for different contexts (work, personal, research), vertical tabs that reduce clutter, and a built-in split view for working with multiple pages. I've been using it for a month and it's genuinely improved how I organise and navigate the web during research-heavy consulting work.

This week's challenge: block out two hours of uninterrupted thinking time in your calendar next week. No meetings, no emails, no tasks — just focused thinking about your most important current challenge. Protect that time fiercely and notice what emerges.