Between productive work and pointless "busy" work there is a space. In that space you'll find tasks that typically don't feel productive, yet they can protect you from countless hours of additional work later or ensure that you don't let important things fall by the wayside.

This is what I refer to as "Surface Work"

For example, having business rhythm meetings or standups. Some teams do great with regular meetings, and some teams run great without regular meetings. This meeting is a basic example of surface work. By creating a platform for communication, we stay ahead of a downturn in performance because we can have dialogue around where we are and where are are going.

Another example

Planning - technically isn't productive to write down the goals and explain to other teams what you are working on. You could be using this time to get more work done right? But the net benefits exist in breaking down silos and holding teams accountable to a timeline. You can write plans all day long, but they don't mean much without execution. But if you spend all day executing and no time planning and prioritizing you may end up working on a lot of the wrong things.
 

Balancing Surface Work

Surface work can very easily become "busy work" if it's not used effectively. For example, in a weekly meeting, the goal is not to mandate an hour of everyone's time. The goal is to ensure that all parties are aware of how and why the business is operating the way it is.

Using Surface Work Effectively

Productivity is a fraction, where the numerator is the list of tasks you complete, and the denominator is the list of tasks you give yourself. You can increase productivity by either increasing what you get done, or removing tasks. It's easy to start pruning tasks that feel like they aren't productive and assuming you will get more done, but I would implore you to ask yourself, is this surface work? Will that weekly meeting actually save you time down the line? If the answer is no or you aren't sure, then drop it and see if you are more productive.

On the other hand, think about something you may be able to add into your rhythm to protect you from dealing with large problems later. For example, let's say once a week you spend 30 minutes talking to your employees about development. This can save you months of searching for a new employee because your last hire didn't feel like there were development opportunities.