The Momentum Illusion

You’ve had a busy week so far, jumping from meeting to meeting, repeatedly clearing your inbox, crossing off your to-do’s by the end of the day. It’s been tiring, but you’ve been riding off the high of tasks well-done: at least you’re moving forward.

Wait. Are you really moving forward? You must be, you’re doing so much. But what if your daily activities are keeping you in motion, without building forward momentum?

Many of us will experience this productivity trap at some point in our lives. We look back on missed promotions, flunked projects, failed businesses and ask ourselves: “what went wrong? I was working so hard.”

Why does this happen?

Neuroscientist Daniel Levitin calls it the “productivity high”: a biochemical reward for completion, not necessarily for progress. We feel productive when we finish something, even if it wasn’t meaningful.

Anyone who’s visited a sad-looking all-you-can-eat-buffet knows that quantity does not equal quality. Yet we forget to apply this wisdom to our schedules: a packed day of back-to-back meetings and emails gives us the addictive sensation of forward momentum, but sometimes none of the reality.

That’s why Gretchen Rubin declares work “one of the most dangerous forms of procrastination”: we forget that certain types of work are thieves of our time in disguise.

The world loves a busy person

In 2016, researchers at Columbia and Harvard Business Schools found something strange: people perceived busier individuals as more competent and higher status, even when they weren’t getting more done.

This glorification of busy people doesn’t help us in our quest for meaningful work. Quite the opposite: it helps us feel good — special even — if we pack a lot into our days.

This mindset has its roots in scarcity. We used to associate scarcity with material things that were hard to come by, seeing them as status signallers. But in a world of plenty we have come to associate scarcity with people instead: a busy person is hard to get hold of, and therefore more desirable. The busier we are, the more society tells us our time is precious.

The cost of constant motion

The illusion of momentum exacts a quiet toll.

When we’re always “in motion,” we leave little space for the kind of thinking that leads to movement — forward progress that compounds. Psychologist Cal Newport calls this the trap of shallow work: tasks that keep us occupied but never stretch our capacity or create value.

Teams fall into the same trap. Meetings multiply because they feel like collaboration. Reports proliferate because they feel like accountability. Yet every layer of activity consumes attention, the very thing we need to do our best work.

As author Oliver Burkeman writes, “Your time is finite. Filling it doesn’t make it count.”

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How to tell if you’re moving or just in motion

Ask three questions:

1. Are your wins visible or valuable? Crossing off small tasks feels good — but did they move your desired outcome forward?

2. Are you measuring inputs or outcomes? Tracking hours, posts, or calls creates the illusion of control. Measuring results reveals the truth.

3. When did you last pause to review? Constant acceleration conceals inefficient behaviours. Reflection reintroduces course correction.

Psychologists Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer call these regular reviews “progress loops” — the small, reflective checkpoints that sustain genuine motivation. Without them, we mistake friction for fuel.

Reclaim Blank Space

Not only can be difficult to protect time to do nothing, it might feel uncomfortable.

Yet these pauses won’t slow us down, they’ll help to keep our efforts intentional by leaving us time to reflect.

“We often get advice to reflect, and we often give the advice to reflect. But how do busy people find time to reflect?” Professor Joseph Badaracco asks.

Momentum without margin becomes chaos. Protect unscheduled time like any other priority to see the best return on your efforts.

The momentum illusion is ultimately a failure of awareness, not a failure of discipline. We’re wired to equate activity with accomplishment. But the most transformative moments in any career often happen in the pauses between motions.

Next time your week feels like a blur, ask yourself:

Am I moving — or just in motion?

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