This week:

• How shallow work can keep you from what matters
• A five minute writing experiment to fix it

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Hi, it’s Aine.

This one’s a biggie for me.

When I look back at years of being an employee, an entrepreneur, a founder - the trap of shallow work and its illusion of productivity probably held me back more than anything else.

It’s that pattern of constantly moving a few things on your calendar, checking emails, sending the easy replies, reorganizing tasks, checking messages again, scrolling for info you suddenly decided could be useful…

It feels productive and busy and somewhat satisfying, but all the important stuff ends up sitting there untouched.

Why we stay so busy with things that don't move the needle

When your brain is already carrying a lot - too many tasks, options, unknowns, and decisions - it starts making quick calculations:

‘What can I do that will give me a sense of progress without requiring too much effort, uncertainty, or risk?’

Shallow work - checking email, rearranging tasks, moving calendar blocks - gives us:

• fast feedback (you did something, you can see it!)
• low risk (there’s less room for visible failure, disagreement, or second-guessing)
• lower cognitive load (fewer decisions, less deep thinking, a lot of just responding to what’s in front of you)

The bigger work - writing, building, deciding - asks more of us:

• more uncertainty (is it really the right move?)
• more effort (holding on to ideas in working memory, solving problems, being creative)
• more exposure (I might be wrong or fail; what will people think)

That kind of work draws more heavily on the brain systems involved in planning, holding information in mind, and choosing where to direct limited attention.

When the task is uncertain, demanding, or high-stakes - and its payoff is delayed instead of being an instant reward - you have to find a way to keep going without tangible reassurance that the effort is working.

So it makes sense that you default to things that offer faster feedback, clearer completion/end points, and less uncertainty. You end up with a day full of micro-wins that never quite move the thing that matters.

Instead of trying to force more willpower, the solution is in finding ways to reduce uncertainty, effort, and perceived risk around the important work:

Name what matters, shrink the first step, and give your brain a clear, easy starting point.

Here’s a quick writing experiment (3 - 5 minutes)

Remember you have to write it, not just think it, in order for it to work. Just grab a pen or start typing.

Write:

“Today, the easier/quicker/simpler actions I keep doing instead of more important work are…”

Exs: moving tasks and meetings around, checking email and messages, re‑organizing lists or boards, tweaking plans, scrolling or researching random things that ‘could be’ useful.

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​Then write:

“If I moved one thing forward today that really matters, it would be… “

Pick one project, decision, or piece of work and name it in writing.

Finally, write:

“Moving this forward matters to me because…”

Exs: What does moving this actually make possible, protect, change, or free up?

The first prompt helps you see the pattern clearly: the small, lower-risk tasks that are giving you a quick sense of progress.

The second and third prompts make the important work easier for your brain to prioritize.

Instead of weighing a fuzzy, demanding task against a bunch of easy wins, your brain can see exactly what you're trying to move forward, and why it's worth your attention.

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​Optional step for getting started... ​
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​Write:

"The smallest thing I can do to get this moving in the next 15 minutes is... "

Then set a timer and start.

Make it tiny and concrete: Open a document and write one messy paragraph, list 3 bullet points that need to be in the proposal, create a blank deck and give it a working title.

By naming a small, specific first move, you reduce uncertainty, lower the perceived effort of beginning, and make the first attempt feel like a safe zone.

And once you take that first small action, you change your relationship with the work.

You go from someone just thinking about it to someone taking action.

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Cheers to a week of action on the important stuff,

– Aine

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