Most of us are back to work after the summer break, and I’ve seen two bits of advice doing the rounds about how to get going again.

The first was to take things slowly and deal with the small stuff first.

The other said do the opposite. Get the big things done first while you’ve still got the energy from the break wait.

Both of the authors believed completely that theirs was the right approach. What each couldn’t possibly know is my circumstances. My approach, preferences, likes and context. Even whether I had big or small stuff in my workload.

Strip that context out, and what’s left isn’t advice but guesses dressed up as thought leadership.

So outside of the confidence and the neat framing, what value is there in publishing advice like this at all?