Most of us don’t need better goals. We need better calendars.

Ali Abdaal points this out in Feel-Good Productivity: plenty of people have clear values and ambitions, but never put those into their actual schedule. It’s not a lack of motivation—it’s just a failure to bridge the gap between what matters and when it happens. If it’s not on your calendar, it doesn’t exist.

Nathan Barry adds a related idea: decide what you’re going to do before you sit down to work. Otherwise, you spend your energy deciding instead of doing. A short list written the night before can be the difference between action and inertia.

Nat Eliason frames this as the difference between short-term and long-term productivity. Short-term productivity gives us the dopamine hit—tasks, checklists, busy days. But long-term productivity? That’s what actually adds up to something. The stuff that would still matter even if you deleted your to-do list.

That’s why language matters too. Abdaal warns against asking for help with transactional framing—like “If you help me, I’ll do this for you.” Instead, lead with impact. Why are you reaching out to this person? What did they do that moved you? That shift turns a favor into a conversation.

And conversations matter. The Prosperous Coach puts it simply: “Every time you coach you change the world.” Not in huge, viral ways—but in the way one person makes another feel seen, heard, or nudged into action.

In Excellence in People Analytics, Jonathan Ferrar and David Green remind us that data about people isn’t just HR stuff. It’s business. It’s impact. If your work helps others make better decisions about humans, it’s shaping the system—whether you see it or not.

So: if you care about it, put it on your calendar. Decide what matters before the day starts. And maybe today is a good day to ask—are my hours aligned with what I say I value?