The day I realised busy was not the same as productive
If you are like me - sometimes I think it is coffee that is fueling my 'energy' - not necessarily the best or most effective way to be a leader. Running full pace, tick-tick-ticking through tasks, relentlessly is not sustainable. Something has to give. I need a rythm.
I have lived by a motto — if it is to be, it is up to me — ten little words that have genuinely made a difference. It does not mean I have to do everything myself, far from it. What it means is I take accountability for what I want to achieve and how I go about it. A big part of that is how I coach myself: do what I say I am going to do, and remind myself I can do hard things.
Effort and output are not the same thing. That kitchen table moment was the first time I really felt the gap between them.
Why "work smarter not harder" is misunderstood in 2026
Most people treat the phrase as permission to do less. I read it very differently. Working smarter is about intentionality — choosing where to direct your energy, attention, and resource for the greatest return, and being ruthless about protecting that choice.
In 2026, the Australian business environment does not reward heroic effort. Margins are tighter, operating costs keep climbing, AI-assisted workflows have moved from novelty to baseline expectation, and good people are hard to keep when budgets are constrained. Founders and business owners are being asked to do more with smaller teams, and the ones I speak with who are genuinely thriving are not the ones grinding through longer hours. They are the ones who have learned to say no more often than they say yes.
Being a leader is not about how fast you run. It is about how effective you are at bringing other people on the journey, and how honestly you can look at your own week and admit where the time really went.
Seven habits of successful people who get more done
These seven habits are not a model I read in a book. They are what I have learned by doing the work, watching other founders I admire, and correcting my own mistakes over more than two decades. Here they are, and here is the summary table if you want to print it out and stick it near your desk.
HabitCore principleQuick actionFocus on what mattersProtect high-impact timeIdentify your one most important task each morningPlan with purposeBlock time for thinking, not just tasksSet tomorrow's priorities before you close your laptop todayEliminate distractionsEvery interruption has a costTurn off all non-essential alerts during deep work blocksDelegate effectivelyMatch task to the right personAsk: who is best placed to do this?Automate and systemiseUse technology to free human energyIdentify one recurring task you can automate with AI this weekFocus on one thing at a timeMultitasking reduces quality and satisfactionClose all tabs except the one you are working onTake care of yourselfEnergy is your most finite resourceMake one recovery habit non-negotiable in your daily routine
1. Focus on what matters
I ask myself one question most mornings: what is the one thing that, when I do it, makes everything else easier or unnecessary? It sounds simple, and it is genuinely hard. Most days there are twelve reasonable things I could do and only two or three that will move the work forward.
Protecting your attention is a leadership act, not a personal luxury. Every time you let your day be dictated by other people's urgency, you teach your team that urgency wins over importance.
2. Plan with purpose
I plan the next day before I close my laptop. Not just tasks — I block time for thinking, for creative work, and for the conversations that only I can have. Ambiguity in planning costs more time than almost any other business problem I have seen.
If we are unclear internally about what our priorities are, we will be unclear externally too. That confusion shows up in our customer experience, our marketing, and our team culture. Clarity is a gift you give yourself and everyone around you.
3. Eliminate distractions
My phone does not buzz during deep work. Notifications are off. The tab count on my browser is single digits. This is not about being unavailable — it is about being present for the right things.
Research from the American Psychological Association has consistently shown that task-switching carries a real cognitive cost and reduces the quality of your output. You feel busier and you get less done. Every founder I know who has taken back control of their calendar has started here.
4. Delegate effectively
Ask yourself honestly: who has the best skills or strengths to do this task? If the answer is not you, and you are still doing it, that is the problem. Working smarter is not a solo sport.
As a business grows, the leader's job shifts from doing to enabling. If you want to go deeper on this, I have written about leading with influence rather than authority — because delegation without clarity of influence is just abdication in a nicer outfit.
5. Automate and systemise
In 2026, AI-assisted workflows are no longer a competitive advantage for large businesses — they are the baseline expectation for anyone running a small operation. I use AI daily for first drafts, summarising long documents, and structuring my thinking. It does not replace judgement, but it removes friction from work that used to eat hours.
Start with one repeatable task this week. Just one. The compounding effect over a year is significant, and you free up human energy for the work only humans can do.
6. Focus on one thing at a time
Multitasking is a myth I bought into for years. What we are doing is rapidly switching, and every switch costs us. The work suffers, and so does the sense of accomplishment that keeps us motivated.
One tab. One task. One conversation. If you want a starting point, I have collected some productivity hacks that work for real businesses that go beyond the usual advice.
7. Take care of yourself
For too long I did not do this. Now my morning routine is non-negotiable — movement, water, no phone for the first hour. It is not a wellness cliché. It is a performance and leadership discipline. You cannot lead others well when you are depleted.
Many business owners I speak with recognise the pattern of running on empty and calling it commitment. If that is you, read the hidden cost of running a small business and be honest with yourself about what is sustainable.
What working smarter looks like in an Australian business in 2026
Let me make it concrete. You might recognise one of these.
A founder who runs every meeting because they do not trust their team to make decisions without them. The real cost is not the founder's time — it is the team's growth, and the ceiling that behaviour puts on the whole business.
A manager who spends 60% of their week in their inbox rather than on the work that moves the business forward. Their team learns that responsiveness is the highest value, and strategic work quietly stops happening.
A business owner who keeps a product or service line alive out of loyalty, long after the numbers say it is time to stop. That loyalty costs cash, focus, and the opportunity to invest in what is working.
None of these are character flaws. They are habits. And habits can change.
The one habit that separates intentional leaders from exhausted ones
If I could only recommend one thing, it would be the weekly review. Thirty minutes, same time every week, no exceptions.
I ask four questions. What happened this week? What mattered? What am I going to stop doing? What is the one priority for next week? That is it. It is not admin — it is a form of continual learning and self-education, and it is where every other habit on this list gets sharpened.
For a deeper conversation on this, I recommend time management strategies on the Handpicked podcast, where I have unpacked how founders can build this discipline without turning it into another burden.
Working smarter is not about doing less. It is about doing what matters, with the people who matter, in a way you can sustain. And it starts with the courage to admit that busy is not the same as productive — a lesson I learned at a kitchen table one Sunday night, and one I have been practising ever since. If you want more on the mindset that carries you through the hard weeks, I have written about what resilience genuinely means for business owners.
Five FAQs about working smarter not harder
What does it mean to work smarter not harder?
Working smarter not harder means directing your effort toward the activities that produce the greatest results, rather than simply increasing the volume of work you do. It is about intentional prioritisation: knowing what to start, what to stop, and what to protect. For business owners in 2026, this usually requires honest reflection on where time is genuinely being spent versus where it should be.
How do I know if I am working hard but not smart?
A few honest signals: you are always busy but rarely feel like you are moving forward, your calendar is full of meetings that could have been emails, or you keep doing tasks that someone else on your team could do if only you gave them the chance. If your effort is high and your progress feels low, the problem is usually direction, not volume.
What is the single most effective way to start working smarter?
Start with a weekly review. Spend 30 minutes at the end of each week asking what moved your work forward, what did not, and what you are going to stop doing. This one habit builds the self-awareness that makes every other productivity approach more effective, and it costs nothing except the discipline to do it consistently.
How does working smarter apply to leading a team?
For leaders, working smarter means multiplying your impact through your team rather than carrying the load yourself. That starts with clarity — giving your people a clear picture of what success looks like so they can make good decisions without coming back to you for every answer. The less your team depends on you for day-to-day decisions, the freer you are to focus on the work only you can do.
Is "work smarter not harder" still relevant advice in 2026?
More relevant than ever. In 2026, Australian business owners are navigating higher operating costs, AI-assisted competitors, and the ongoing challenge of doing more with smaller teams. The phrase is easy to dismiss as a cliché, but the underlying principle — choosing where to direct your finite energy for maximum return — is genuinely one of the most important skills any founder or leader can develop.
