“I work with my clients to create ‘thinking’ time in their calendars to focus on strategy, reflection and taking time out of rushing around on autopilot,” says Kingston. “Clients have reported a massive shift in productivity as they can see the bigger picture and align to the overall organisational strategic goals. This can have a fundamental impact on your career success as you are uplevelling, I would suggest scheduling at least an hour a week of focus time in your diary.”

Knight has a similar approach. Her recommendation is to schedule in ‘deep work time’ when you can get crucial tasks done rather than getting distracted by performative tasks.

“I would recommend setting a chunk of time aside each week, or every couple of days (usually a few hours) for deep and meaningful work, where you aren’t distracted, and that drives results,” she says. “During this time, work through proactive tasks that you need to get off of your desk and realistically plan for the rest of the week.”

She also suggests scheduling in time for planning, assessing and sitting with your work – not filling in a new list or spreadsheet, but simply acknowledging where you are and what you’re doing.

We all need downtime during the work day, but performative work is not the answer