I saw this beautiful creature and took this photograph last Tuesday morning whist walking Stanley. I was struck by how still the heron was. Just watching me whilst I watched him
It wasn’t rushing around. It wasn’t constantly moving from one thing to another. To an observer, it might have looked as though it wasn’t doing very much at all. But, of course, it was. It was watching. Waiting. Paying attention to its environment. Conserving its energy. And when the right moment came, it would act.
Looking at the heron reminded me of a line from John Milton’s Sonnet XVI, When I Consider How My Light Is Spent. “They also serve who only stand and wait.” Milton was writing about service, patience and human limitation, not workplace productivity. But nearly four hundred years later, there is something in that line that resonates with the way we think about work. It made me think, when did looking busy become the same as being productive?
We often reward what we can see. The full diary. The immediate reply. The overflowing inbox. The person moving rapidly from one meeting to another. The green availability light on Teams.
Being busy has become a byword for effectiveness. Yet someone answering emails constantly, jumping between messages, attending back-to-back meetings and responding immediately is not necessarily producing their best work. Just like someone sitting quietly, thinking through a problem, processing information or waiting before responding is not necessarily doing nothing.
For many neurodivergent people, this distinction can be particularly important. Doing their best work may require time to think, space without interruption, an opportunity to process before responding, clear priorities, periods of intense focus followed by recovery, or the freedom to work with their attention and energy rather than constantly fighting against them.
Perhaps there are a few things we can learn from the heron.
1. Read the environment
Before the heron acts, it watches. In coaching, I often find that there is a temptation to start with solutions. A new planner. Another app. A different to-do list. More reminders. A new productivity technique. But before introducing another strategy, it can be much more useful to understand what is actually happening.
Where do I get stuck? When is my concentration strongest? What interrupts me? Which tasks drain my energy? What causes me to become overwhelmed? What am I avoiding, and why? What conditions allow me to do my best work?
Sometimes we need to understand the water before we start trying to swim differently……
2. Not everything deserves your attention.
The heron doesn’t chase everything that moves. One of the most common workplace difficulties I encounter in coaching is prioritisation. When several things are competing for attention, everything can begin to feel equally important. Emails arrive. Teams pings. Someone asks for something. A meeting appears. Another deadline is added.
The ability to work effectively isn’t simply about getting more things done. Sometimes, the more important skill is deciding what doesn’t deserve your attention right now.
3. Protect your energy, not just your time.
We talk a great deal about time management at work. But two hours are not always two equal hours. Our concentration, cognitive capacity and energy fluctuate throughout the day. For someone managing ADHD, autism, dyslexia, sensory demands, fatigue or simply a cognitively demanding job, those fluctuations can matter enormously.
The heron doesn’t expend energy continuously. There is stillness followed by purposeful action. Perhaps we should think about our working days in the same way.
Instead of asking, “How can I squeeze more into my day?” we might ask, “Where is my energy best spent?”
4. Don’t confuse movement with progress.
This may be the hardest lesson. Modern workplaces generate enormous amounts of activity. We answer emails. Attend meetings. Respond to notifications. Update systems. Switch between tasks. Deal with whatever has just appeared on the screen.
At the end of a very busy day, however, we can sometimes struggle to identify what actually moved forward.
Stillness can be productive. Thinking is work. Processing is work. Preparing is work. Reflecting is work. Taking time before responding can be work. And recovery can be part of sustainable work too. Milton’s words take on an interesting contemporary resonance, “They also serve who only stand and wait.”
5. Act deliberately
The heron waits, but it doesn’t wait forever. Stillness isn’t the destination. Eventually action comes. That distinction matters because reflection can sometimes become avoidance, just as activity can sometimes become distraction.
The aim isn’t to work slowly. Nor is it to work quickly. It is to become more deliberate about when to pause, where to focus and when to act. Many people come to coaching asking, “How can I become more productive?”
Sometimes that is the right question. But sometimes there are better ones…
What conditions help me do my best work? What deserves my attention? What is draining energy without producing much value? Where am I mistaking activity for progress? What would happen if I stopped trying to work like everyone else and started understanding how I work best?
For neurodivergent people in particular, effective working doesn’t necessarily mean becoming better at conforming to somebody else’s model of productivity. It can mean understanding your own patterns well enough to build ways of working that are effective and sustainable.
Perhaps that is what struck me about the heron. It wasn’t hurrying. It wasn’t distracted by everything around it. It wasn’t trying to look busy. It was simply paying attention to what mattered. And sometimes, before we try to move faster, we need to read the water……..
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If you’re interested in exploring individual coaching, you can book a free introductory call via the Forthstride website or get in touch directly,
geoffrey.proudlock@fortstrideconsulting.co.uk
Small steps. Steady hands. Strong tides.
© Geoffrey Proudlock trading as Forthstride Consulting 2026. All rights reserved.
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