by Justin Standfield
Where do you have your best ideas? Where are you and what are you doing when those moments of clarity come, and you manage to answer those questions that have been niggling you for weeks? I’m going to make some bold predictions here. I’m willing to bet that they will be when you are:
- Making dinner, probably whilst chopping vegetables and listening to your children moan about how Harry (it’s always a Harry, isn’t it?) snatched the ball today and “the teacher didn’t tell him off or anything!”
- Driving home, sitting in traffic and listening to the radio whilst competing in the M25/M6/A34 karaoke championship (by yourself, being careful not to let the guy in the Presto Drain Clearance van catch your eye).
- Walking the dog and being careful to step around the ankle-turning potholes and hidden delights in the long grass.
- Clipping your hedges, wondering how long your arms can hold the weight of the over-priced leaf masher you’re holding.
- In the shower, wondering if your next door neighbours can see into your bathroom as easily as you can see into theirs, and what’s in that glass on their windowsill…are those teeth?
- Queuing up at Slimming World behind Susan (could she take any longer getting her shoes off?) and wondering if that sizeable buffet incident last Friday is going to show up on the scales this week.
Notice what these moments have in common? They’re all times when you’re not actively trying to be productive. These aren’t just pleasant breaks or moments of procrastination – they’re what I call ‘pre-productive time’. Unlike traditional productivity that focuses on doing more, pre-productivity is about creating the mental conditions that make our actual work time exponentially more effective.
As an organisational development consultant, I’ve seen countless strategies for improving workplace efficiency. But here’s the counterintuitive truth I’ve discovered: the most productive people aren’t those who work the longest hours or maintain the busiest schedules. They’re the ones who’ve mastered the art of pre-productivity.
“But I have deadlines!” I hear you protest. “I can’t afford to slow down!”. Trust me, I understand. During the last quarter, the team at Incendo faced the most challenging project of the year – supporting a client organisation with a company-wide transformational change within a very ambitious timeline. Initially, the leadership team of that company did what most managers do: scheduled back-to-back meetings, worked through lunches and kept their project teams in constant ‘doing’ mode.
The result? After just four weeks, they were behind schedule, morale was low and the results they were getting were mediocre at best. That’s when we decided to help them implement something radical: they mandated pre-productive time.
In order to be effective and clear, our minds need regular de-cluttering, and this happens when we aren’t consciously trying to think or problem-solve. From personal experience, I know that the more work I have to do, the more urgent and important meetings I need to attend, the more things I must remember to do and the higher my stress levels become ; and then the slower I am to solve problems effectively and to find innovative solutions.
Here’s what pre-productive time ended up looking like in practice for our client:
- Scheduled ‘thinking walks’ – 20 minutes of solo walking without phones or podcasts
- ‘Garden office hours’ – team members can take their laptops outside when stuck on a problem (weather permitting, of course)
- Mandatory buffer time between meetings for mental reset
- ‘Slow mornings’ where the first hour is protected from emails and meetings
The results were surprising. Not only did the project teams catch up on their timeline, but the quality of their solutions improved dramatically. Team members reported feeling more creative and energised. Most importantly, they avoided the typical ‘quick fix then re-work’ cycle that plagues so many projects.
The science behind pre-productivity is fascinating. Research shows that our brains have two distinct modes: the ‘task-positive network’ (active during focussed work) and the ‘default mode network’ (active during rest). It’s in this default mode that our brains make novel connections and process complex information. By deliberately activating this network through pre-productive activities, we’re not just taking a break – we’re engaging in essential mental preparation.
Pottering around at home, preferably getting stuck into some cooking or my nerdy hobby of genealogy, is my longer investment in achieving the space to think, and I try to do this for at least a few hours each weekend, whilst sometimes involving my son and paying attention to how he views the world in a much simpler and appreciative way. It’s even more fascinating if you have children under seven years old; when you notice how they see the many different uses for a watering can, a piece of chalk, or the patterns in the clouds, it seems to help refresh those creative pathways in your own brain.
These childhood observations reveal something profound about pre-productivity: it’s not just about giving our brains a rest – it’s about returning to a state of natural curiosity and openness that most of us have forgotten in our rush to be ‘productive’.
As leaders, I believe that we have a unique opportunity – and responsibility – to reshape how our organisations think about productivity. By embracing and modelling pre-productivity, we’re not just improving our own effectiveness; we’re creating a culture where deep thinking and creative problem-solving can flourish.
Ready to start your pre-productivity practice? Here’s your challenge:
- This week, schedule three 15-minute pre-productive breaks.
- Don’t just use them to catch up on emails or scroll through your phone. Instead, go for a walk, sit in your garden, or simply look out the window.
- Track not just how you feel, but the quality and speed of your work afterwards. You might discover that these “unproductive” moments are actually the key to your most productive work yet.
Remember: in a world obsessed with doing more, the real competitive advantage might just be in doing less – but doing it more intentionally.
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