It’s probably safe to say we’d all love to get more results from less effort. Productivity is that elusive blend of efficiency and expertise that allows you to tick off to-do list items and hit gargantuan goals at an unthinkable pace. Here’s a collection of our best advice on how to work smarter, not harder.
About six years ago, we experienced a fundamental shift in how and where work got done. A huge number of roles transitioned to be completely remote or hybrid, but the way many companies evaluate performance is still built around an in-office workforce. Even now, more than half a decade later, a lot of managers continue […]
When being seen matters more than doing the work Read More »
When a new employee starts at Netflix, they spend the full first quarter of their new role being onboarded. The result is an impressive 11% annual turnover rate, less than half the national average of 23.4%. Each new Zappos employee spends their first 4 weeks in intensive training, including taking customer calls for the first
Onboarding debt: The productivity tax nobody puts in the budget Read More »
Most managers worry about their lowest performers becoming a drag on the team. But some of the biggest productivity bottlenecks start at the other end of the spectrum. High performers naturally attract work. Everyone knows they’re good at their job, so they’re trusted to make decisions and answer questions. Every time they help, however, they
Stop turning your best employees into the office help desk Read More »
The average knowledge worker uses four times the number of tools they used in the early 2000s, but the software surge hasn’t translated to an increase in productivity or employee satisfaction. In fact, 96% of employees are dissatisfied with the tools they have been given to manage their work. Every new workplace tool promises to
Tool debt: How using too many productivity tools hurts productivity Read More »
We’re all familiar with the experience of working for a micromanager. It’s the director who constantly checks on you via your employee tracking software or the owner who feels the need to sit in on every meeting you schedule with a client. These days, some micromanagement takes a more subtle, but still exhausting, form. It’s
Busyness is the new micromanagement Read More »
A few years ago, Shopify rolled out a tool that calculated the cost of every meeting based on the length and specific attendees. Include three employees in a 30-minute meeting? The average cost could range anywhere from $700 to $1,600. Throw an executive in the meeting, and the cost shoots up to at least $2,000.
Meetings are eating your margins Read More »
At the end of 2025, 51% of remote-capable U.S. workers were working in a hybrid role. At this point, more office employees work in a hybrid job than in fully in-person or fully remote roles. But just because hybrid work is common, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Ideally, hybrid work would improve productivity and work-life
Hybrid teams: Less circus, more choreography Read More »
Not terribly long ago, hiring a freelancer meant getting some short-term help. Freelancers were used to help cover a temporary spike in workload, a one-off project, or a specific skill gap your full-time team couldn’t fill. But in 2026, freelancing is more prolific than ever before, and many teams are built to include freelancers from
Your next teammate might be a freelancer Read More »
When you’re feeling overwhelmed, productivity is usually the first thing to go. It’s not (usually) because you don’t care, but because it feels like too much. Trying to optimize your time or follow a system when you’re barely keeping your head above water sounds ridiculous. So when you hit that wall, you check out and
Productivity isn’t a luxury Read More »
There are dozens of timesheet apps on the market, and each one promises accurate data, meaningful insights, and improved productivity. But most of these tools are reactive, not proactive. They give you a record of everyone’s time at work, but they don’t actually help employees work better. These days, time tracking alone isn’t enough.
The best timesheet app is the one that actually improves team focus Read More »
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