Being Busy is Not the Win You Think It Is

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Deep Dive

Busy doesn’t mean impactful

Most in-house lawyers I know are drowning in work. Calendars packed. Inboxes overflowing. Slack messages coming in faster than we can possibly clear them.

And it’s easy to assume that level of busyness means you’re crushing it.

You’re responsive. You’re helpful. You’re always available.

I know that’s how I used to feel—being busy meant I was needed, and that seemed like a very good thing. In fact, being busy felt like a good goal.

But over time, I started to notice a frustrating tension.

I was working hard, but not always making a difference. Completing a lot of tasks, but not actually moving the needle on what mattered.

And I wasn’t sure if I was working on the right things.

Especially because I realized that some of the work I was doing took less time and effort on my part, but seemed to make more of a difference to the business. While other work that took a lot of time and effort didn’t seem to matter much in the long run.

That's when I started to learn the difference between being busy and being strategic. It was a gamechanger.

Because I realized: the work that took me 30 minutes but prevented a recurring problem was worth more than the work that took me 3 hours responding to the same question for the fifth time.

Because being busy and being strategic are not the same thing (though even strategic lawyers can be busy!), and understanding the difference matters more than most people realize.

1. Busy legal feels like impact (but isn’t always)

Busy in-house lawyers and legal departments define their success by activity levels. They assume they are doing things right when they check off a lot of tasks.

Busy in-house lawyers respond quickly. They say yes nearly every time. They clear tasks efficiently. They keep things moving.

And early in an in-house career, this is often rewarded. It can be a good thing.

You build trust by being reliable. You earn goodwill by being easy to work with. You prove you can handle volume. All of that matters.

Like being a “safe pair of hands,” being busy and involved is valuable when you’re getting started, but isn’t the right goal later.

The problem is what happens when busyness becomes the default definition of effectiveness.

Because activity creates the illusion of impact. But it’s not real.

For example, I’ve written before about my own short-lived feeling of success when I hit inbox zero. I felt great for about three minutes—until I realized I'd just been checking things off other people's to-do lists, not making a real difference.

It is totally possible to be involved in everything and still not shape anything.

2. Strategic legal is about leverage, rather than volume

A strategic lawyer or strategic legal department may look less active from the outside. They'll often schedule fewer meetings and write fewer Slacks and emails. But that doesn't mean they are accomplishing less.

Instead, they're doing fewer things—but driving more impact and value.

Rather than measuring success by volume of tasks, strategic in-house lawyers measure by outcomes.

They're asking fundamentally different questions:

• What actually moves company priorities forward?

• Where does legal judgment change outcomes?

• Which decisions matter most if they go wrong—or right?

• When should I get involved early versus when should I unblock and step back?

Here's what this looks like in practice:

A busy lawyer promptly reviews every vendor contract that comes through. A strategic lawyer builds a playbook so most contracts don't need legal review at all.

A busy lawyer joins every product meeting to stay informed. A strategic lawyer identifies the three product decisions where legal input actually changes the outcome—and focuses there.

A busy lawyer responds to every question within the hour. A strategic lawyer creates resources that answer common questions, freeing up time for the work that requires real legal judgment.

The shift isn't about working less. It's about being more intentional with where you apply your expertise. Because your time and judgment are finite resources. And when you spread them too thin, you dilute your impact.

Strategic lawyers understand this and so they're more deliberate about what they respond to and how deeply they engage.

3. Why busyness gets rewarded early and limits you later

Early on, being busy is often the fastest way to build credibility. People trust the lawyer who replies quickly. Leaders appreciate the lawyer who always says yes. Teams like the lawyer who never pushes back.

And that makes sense. When you're new in-house, proving you can handle the workload matters. Being responsive builds trust. Being helpful earns goodwill.

But at some point, the expectations shift.

As you become more senior—or as your legal department matures—executives stop looking just for volume. They start looking for clarity, prioritization, and judgment.

They want to know: What should we focus on? What's the real risk here? What's your recommendation?

If you stay in busy mode too long, something subtle but significant starts to happen:

• You become a service provider instead of an advisor.

• You get pulled into execution instead of decision-making.

• You're relied on, but not consulted early.

• You feel indispensable but not influential.

And that's a frustrating place to be. Because you're working just as hard—maybe harder—but you're not shaping the decisions that matter.

You're reacting instead of guiding. Responding instead of leading.

And the hardest part is that the behaviors that got you here—responsiveness, availability, saying yes—are the same ones holding you back from making the shift to strategic.

4. A Simple Reframe: From Tasks to Outcomes

One of the most useful mental shifts is moving your thought pattern from "What needs to be done?" to “What needs to be decided?"

Tasks keep things moving, but decisions determine direction and make sure when things move, it’s in the right direction.

Strategic lawyers orient their time around decisions that matter, even when the work itself looks less urgent in the moment.

Here's what that actually looks like:

• Instead of cleaning up a product launch at the last minute, you spend time upfront shaping the approach so it doesn't need cleaning up later.

• Instead of answering the same question every week, you simplify the process so the question stops coming back.

• Instead of drafting the perfect memo, you sit down with a leader to think through the tradeoffs—because what they really need is clarity, not documentation.

• Instead of weighing in immediately on every issue that lands in your inbox, you choose not to immediately engage on low-impact questions so you have capacity for the high-impact ones. You batch your responses later in the day, and by then, some of the questions have resolved themselves.

This might look like disengagement, but it’s really judgment. It's recognizing that your time and expertise are limited, and choosing to spend them where they actually change outcomes.

The uncomfortable truth is that some things will move forward without you. Some questions won't get answered as quickly. Some people might be frustrated that you're not as immediately available.

But the tradeoff is worth it.

Because when you focus on decisions instead of tasks, you can stop constantly playing catch up—and start helping shape where the company is headed.

5. How to start shifting without dropping the ball

You don't need a new title or permission to start working more strategically.

But you do need to be deliberate.

Especially if you're still in the trust-building phase of your career. Because at that stage, you're still being judged on responsiveness and reliability. You still need to prove you can handle the work.

But here's what separates fast promotions from slow ones:

The lawyers who rise quickly master responsiveness and they add strategic thinking on top of it.

They're reliable and they spot opportunities before they're asked.

They're helpful and they know which problems are worth solving.

They say yes often and they know when to push back.

Here are a few practical ways to begin:

1. Track where your time actually goes

For one week, pay attention. At the end of each day, write down what you actually worked on. You may be surprised by what you find.

Then ask yourself:

• Which work directly connects to company priorities?

• Which work exists because no one ever revisited the process?

• Which work could be handled differently with a bit of upfront thinking?

In order to shift to strategic work, you need to know what you’re shifting away from.

2. Get clearer on what matters this quarter

If everything is a priority, nothing is.

Strategic lawyers anchor their decisions to a small number of real business priorities—the things leadership is actually focused on moving forward.

When you know what those are, it becomes much easier to say yes to the right things and no to the rest.

If you're not sure what those priorities are, you should ask. That conversation alone will change how you're perceived.

And if you want more on making sure your goals align to company ones, read this issue from a few weeks ago: How to Set Legal Goals that Actually Drive the Business 

3. Lead with recommendations and outcomes rather than activity

The next time you update someone on your work, try this.

Instead of listing everything you've done, focus on:

• What decision is needed

• What options exist

• What you recommend and why

• What impact your recommendation will likely have

This is a small shift that reframes your entire role from executor to advisor.

4. Trade immediacy for leverage when it counts

Not every fast response is a valuable one.

Sometimes the most strategic move is slowing down just enough to solve the root problem—so the issue doesn't keep coming back.

Yes, someone might have to wait a day longer for an answer. But if that means you prevent the same question from landing in your inbox every week for the next six months, that's leverage.

The shift from busy to strategic doesn’t happen overnight

You'll still have full days. You'll still need to be responsive. You'll still say yes to things that matter.

Sometimes, you’ll still have too much to do. And you’ll be on a Teams call, while Slack won’t stop pinging, and someone is trying to call you on Zoom as well. I had two days like that last week.

But when you start being more intentional about where you spend your time and expertise, everything changes.

You stop feeling like you're just keeping up and start feeling like you're shaping what comes next.

And that shift is what makes the difference between being a good in-house lawyer and being an indispensable one.