Many professionals suffer from 'pseudo work,' as defined by productivity expert Cal Newport. This is the state of being constantly busy with tasks that don't contribute to meaningful outcomes. Recognizing and eliminating pseudo work is critical to stop wasting energy and start making real progress.

As companies scale, the supply of obvious, valuable work dwindles. To stay busy, employees engage in "hyper-realistic work-like activities"—tasks that mimic real work (e.g., meetings to review decks for other meetings) but generate no value. It's a leader's job to create a sufficient supply of *known valuable work*.

Modern sales culture mistakenly equates constant activity with productivity. The real competitive edge comes from scheduling time for strategic thinking. While competitors react to noise, you develop clarity, spot unseen opportunities, and devise creative solutions by deliberately doing nothing but thinking.

The instinctive reaction to overwhelming growth is to accelerate work, which often leads to addressing symptoms instead of root causes. The more effective first step is to pause, step off the 'treadmill,' and gain clarity on the actual challenge before taking any action.

Before a major business pivot, first identify what can be let go or scaled back. This creates the necessary space and resources for the new direction, preventing overwhelm and ensuring the pivot is an extension of identity, not just another added task on your plate.

In any complex organization, leaders face constant battles. A key strategy from the Secretary of Energy is to consciously let go of minor fights to conserve political capital and focus for the crucial ones. Getting fired up about every little thing leads to burnout and distracts from the ultimate mission.

Most people let good ideas pass by. The key to becoming an effective entrepreneur is to consistently shorten the time between having an idea and taking the first small step. This builds a self-perpetuating "muscle" that generates momentum and compounds your ability to execute.

Leaders often try to "squeeze in" critical strategic work around a flood of meetings and daily demands. This approach is backward. To make meaningful progress, strategic priorities must be the first items blocked out on the calendar. All other, less critical tasks must then be fit into the remaining time, ensuring your schedule reflects your strategy.

When strategic direction is unclear due to leadership changes, waiting for clarity leads to stagnation. The better approach is to create a draft plan with the explicit understanding it may be discarded. This provides a starting point for new leadership and maintains team momentum, so long as you are psychologically prepared to pivot.