Psychology of work researchers B.D. Peterson and G.W. Nielson in their 2009 research, titled “Fake Work: Why people are working harder than ever but accomplishing less, and how to fix the problem,” found that about half of the “work” that employees accomplish “fails to advance the organizations’ strategies.” They smartly labeled this ineffective form of workplace activity “fake work.”

What exactly makes up this “fake work?” According to the authors, fake work includes everyone from the CEO who changes strategy too frequently, to the manager who have meetings that don’t matter, to the line worker who just wants to get buy. They concluded that in such scenarios, essentially “busyness overwhelms emphasis.”

We all know these types, right? Or maybe we are them. Regardless, we could all probably describe aspects of “fake work” that we do on our own jobs.

What’s the opposite? It’s when you and your employees focus on “high-value activities” instead. These are core activities at the heart of your business and mission that move you forward in a tangible way. These activities are tied to what I call your “dominant focus” or the one thing you want to accomplish in your life or business.

Think of it this way. If I asked you to do 3 things a day, 5 days a week, 60 times a month that point directly to the dominant focus in your life or your business, could you do it? Could your employees do it? The answer is a resounding ‘yes!’ And along with it comes new levels of success with new levels of challenges.

The trick to unleashing this collective passion of your time and effort in your business is knowing clearly what your “dominant focus” is. I developed mine early in life and it was and is today “to coach and teach on an ever increasing stage.”

I measure every activity, every minute, every motion, against it. What’s the yield? New levels of success with new levels of challenges.

We all can take note of this lesson. If you really want to be successful in business and life and drive new levels of success (earning a living for your value and not your time), then focus on high value activities!

Don’t watch “fake news” and don’t do “fake work.”