“You’re too busy chopping wood to sharpen the axe”.
I heard Netflix founder Reed Hastings talk about this idea recently on the Guy Raz How I Built This podcast.
He was talking about how – when we’re flat out at work – we often forget to stay on top of improvements, important conversations, training, strategic thinking etc.
We become so consumed by the day to day ‘working in the business’, that we stop ‘working on the business’. Sometimes altogether.
Because, when you’re flat out and need all hands on deck, it’s hard to slow down and carve out the time to implement good systems of work, work on performance management, coach, implement improvements or – perhaps hardest of all – work on personal development. Taking the time to work on these things can feel like an indulgence when life is hectic.
But the reality is, if we don’t periodically sharpen our axe, we’ll work increasingly hard just to achieve the same outcome. And eventually we’ll be banging the tree with a completely blunt instrument, which wears us out without achieving much at all.
So, it takes strength and discipline to carve out regular time to reflect and work on these axe-sharpening activities. It feels uncomfortable, and we often experience peer pressure not to, but it’s essential – for both long term performance and our sense of wellbeing and balance.
And it might be as simple as starting with:
- An hour every Monday morning or Friday afternoon to plan our week
- 15 min every morning to plan our day
Just these two small changes alone will make a huge difference to both our effectiveness, and our sense of control – which reduces stress.
Because sustained effectiveness doesn’t come from working harder.
It comes from working sharper.
Struggling to stay clear and intentional day to day?
It’s easy to have good intentions about how you want to show up as a leader – and just as easy to lose that clarity in the noise of a busy day. Our free Daily Review Template gives you a simple way to pause, reflect and reset. In a few minutes, you can review what actually happened, clarify what matters most and decide how you’ll show up tomorrow. Instead of drifting or reacting, you finish the day feeling clear, grounded and more in control of how you lead.