Productivity is hiding your real problem

You don’t need a better to-do list. You need to fix the real issue.

Author

Ryan Ray
June 17, 2025

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You fix one thing. Then another thing breaks. You hire someone. Now you’re managing that person. You buy software. No one uses it.

You cross off tasks every day. Still feels like the same problems keep coming back.

That’s not growth. That’s survival.

The trap is this:

When things get hard, you do more. You stay up later. Jump in. Push through.

It feels like like progress.

But if nothing changes, what are you really doing?

A lot of owners are stuck here.

They confuse motion with momentum. Or chase symptoms. And solve the same thing three different ways, but never the right way.

The truth?

Most problems inside your business aren't hiding.

You're just looking in the wrong spot.

Sales problem? Might be a follow-up problem.

Hiring problem? Might be a role clarity problem.

Team issue? Might be your leadership, not theirs.

Prompt of the day

I want you to help me identify the real problem inside my business.

Start by asking me:
– What’s the one issue that keeps coming back?
– Who owns it now?
– What does “fixed” look like?
– What system supports it?

Then help me name the real root cause and what I can do this week to move it forward.

You don’t need to “do more.” You need to stop and ask better questions:

  • What problem keeps coming back?

  • What have I tried already?

  • Who owns it?

  • When does it need to be solved?

That’s where coaching starts.
Not with a pep talk or a worksheet.
Just clarity.

You built something valuable.
Now it’s time to fix the parts that don’t work.
Not with more to-do’s.
With better decisions.

I have 5 coaching spots open for June.

If your business keeps running in circles, let’s fix that.

—Ryan