Wow! Today was a day when I did not know what to write. I got no insights. So the best thing I could do was to analyze. What day was it? What led to such a woeful result?
Yet still, it was a very productive day. I discussed an important deal, completed several documents, and sped up a couple of projects. But all activity was reactive – I stuck with previously written plans and answered questions. No initiative, no big effort.
Being busy and actually gaining experience are two completely different things. Professional growth requires challenge and conscious effort, not just dealing with workload.
Should we artificially insert this effort into our work days and force ourselves to produce insights? I think not. We just need to become more aware of choosing a job or project where challenges occur naturally. And then periodically check whether we realized something completely new or not. A day without new ideas is perfectly fine. A week is okay. A month is an ardent red flag.
