Carrie, I spend all day running around like a headless chook, but when I get home, I can’t even say what I achieved.” Sound familiar? Is this what you are hearing from your workmates and friends?

We live in a culture that confuses busy with productive. Endless emails, back-to-back meetings, multitasking across projects… it looks impressive, but inside, leaders and employees are burning out. Productivity is sinking, not rising.

Globally, fatigue is one of the biggest drains on performance. Studies show that even small lapses in focus cost organisations billions in lost hours. The truth? Productivity isn’t about doing more. It’s about focusing on what matters.

The Backpack of “Busyness”

Imagine carrying a backpack stuffed with sticky notes of half-finished tasks. Every ping, every request, every new project adds another note. Before long, the weight is overwhelming. The Productivity Spell lightens that load by teaching us to work smarter, not longer.

A Coaching Story

One executive I coached was drowning in meetings. They had no time to think, let alone lead. Together, we used a simple tool called the Focus Funnel: Eliminate, Automate, Delegate, Concentrate. By running their to-do list through this filter, they slashed unnecessary tasks, empowered their team with delegation, and protected deep-focus time for strategy. Within a month, their stress levels dropped — and their team started calling them “present” instead of “frazzled.”

Daily Hack: The Power Hour

Protect one hour a day for your most important work. No emails, no meetings, no distractions. Just deep focus. Start with 25-minute “sprints” if an hour feels impossible. Guard this time like gold.

The magic? You’ll finish the day knowing you’ve moved the needle, not just spun your wheels.