Tips for Protecting Focus Time in the Workplace

This idea changed my life (it can do the same for you): → The Zen of Focus In the chaotic world of entrepreneurship, focus is the ultimate superpower. But with countless distractions and demands vying for your attention, it can feel like an uphill battle. Here's how to achieve zen-like focus and boost your productivity: 1. Embrace the power of silence: Noise is the enemy of focus. Find a quiet space, put on noise-canceling headphones, and create a distraction-free zone. Silence helps your mind settle into deep concentration. 2. Practice mindfulness: Mindfulness means being present and fully engaged in the moment. Take a few minutes each day for meditation, deep breathing, or simply observing your thoughts. This builds your mental muscle for focus. 3. Use the Pomodoro Technique: Work in 25-minute sprints, followed by a 5-minute break. This method helps you manage time and maintain focus, preventing burnout. 4. Write down your MIT: Your Most Important Task is the one thing that will make the biggest impact on your day. Write it down first thing in the morning and make it your top priority. This clarity will keep you focused on what matters most. 5. Take regular breaks: Contrary to popular belief, breaks improve focus. Step away from your work every 90 minutes to recharge. Take a walk, stretch, or do something unrelated to work. Your brain will thank you. 6. Learn to say no: Focus is about what you say no to as much as what you say yes to. Guard your time and attention ruthlessly. Say no to non-essential tasks, meetings, and commitments that don't align with your goals. 7. Fuel your focus: What you eat and drink impacts your ability to focus. Avoid sugary snacks and drinks that cause energy crashes. Opt for brain-boosting foods like nuts, berries, and leafy greens. Stay hydrated. 8. Prioritize sleep: Sleep is the ultimate performance enhancer. Aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night. A well-rested mind is a focused mind. Implementing these tips will help you achieve a state of zen-like focus, transforming your productivity and performance. Remember, building focus is a practice, not perfection. Start small, be consistent, and celebrate your progress. With the power of focus, there's no limit to what you can achieve as an entrepreneur. So go forth and focus like a zen master.

Whenever I get interrupted, it takes me 15 - 30 min to recover my zone. Do you ever have one of those days when you end up exhausted but can't list the things you finished? I bet money that day was full of meetings or full of interruptions. Interruptions when you're "in the zone" are problematic, especially with complex issues. You have to switch context, which comes with a price; you lost track. This is how I get things done: 𝗜 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿. It could be for 25 minutes or 1 hour, whatever works for you. I find my sweet spot at 2 hours; during that time, my only mission is my task. 𝗜 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗛𝗼𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹. Shoulder taps are not the only interruptions; you have Slack, Teams, you name it, and all those notifications can take you off track in seconds. But if there is a production issue, you have to fix it no matter what. So, I created a chat for priority issues, and I get notified if I get tagged. 𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀. I work from home 90% of the time, so I have a Do Not Disturb sign on my door. I also set my chat status to "Do Not Disturb." 𝗜 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. You need to make yourself available for your team. I have slots during the day to handle: - emails - calls - other minor tasks to Less context switching, more things done! 𝗜 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀. Before attending to an interruption, write down a few quick notes about: - where you are in your current task - who you get there again Quick notes can act as "bookmarks" to help you resume your original task. Are you good at context-switching? Really? Share some other tricks to protect your time and get things done! #softwaredevelopment #timemanagement #focusonyourgoals

You’re not lazy. You’re just buried in 275 pings a day. Try these steps to reclaim your focus: At work, we’re drowning in messages. And it’s slowly killing our focus and momentum. We’re hit with 275 pings a day. (That’s one every 2 minutes!) Each feels urgent. But the real issue? No system to manage such volume. When everything feels equal, nothing gets done. Here’s how to fix it: 1️⃣ Block deep work time ↳ 60–90 mins, no messages. ↳ Treat it like your most important meeting. 2️⃣ Turn off the noise ↳ Mute all non-essentials. ↳ Urgent? They’ll call or walk over. 3️⃣ Make your system visible ↳ Share your reply schedule. ↳ Add it to your email signature or DM status. 4️⃣ Batch your messages ↳ Check email twice a day or once every hour. ↳ What matter is you: Open, reply, close, then move on. 5️⃣ Use the 4Ds ↳ Delete, Delegate, Defer, or Do. ↳ Decide quickly... don’t dwell. 6️⃣ Follow the 2-Minute Rule ↳ Takes under 2 mins? Do it. ↳ If not, drop it into your system. 7️⃣ Set team norms ↳ Define what’s async. ↳ Align on response time expectations. Every ping is input. Your system makes it useful. What’s one habit that helps you stay focused? Drop it below. ____________ ♻️ Repost to help others reclaim their focus and time. 📌 Follow Jorge Luis Pando for actionable insights. 📘 This post comes from my weekly newsletter. Read the full edition + get my free eBook → https://lnkd.in/gQm5bSPJ

10 steps to protect your focus (Matt Gray's deep work routine): 1. Eliminate Distractions Close social media, silence notifications, and keep your phone out of sight. It’s impossible to produce quality work if your attention is being pulled in a million different directions. Block off 4 hours every day to be completely free of distraction. 2. Reduce Multitasking We often feel productive by juggling multiple tasks. But the opposite is true. Multitasking is a recipe for: • Poor focus • Bad concentration • Reduced productivity Multitasking means screwing up several things at once. Focus on one task at a time. 3. Practice Mindfulness and Meditate Set aside 5 minutes a day to sit with your eyes closed. When you get distracted by a thought, practice bringing your attention back to your breath. Stillness is a superpower. 4. Get More Sleep Being awake for 20 hours is similar to being drunk. You wouldn't expect yourself to focus while hammered. Entrepreneurs are athletes. You need solid rest to be at peak performance. Set a bedtime and get 8 hours of sleep. 5. Choose to Focus on the Moment It’s impossible to concentrate when your mind is: • In the past • Worrying about the future To produce quality work, you must be present and focused on the task. The point of power is always in the present moment. 6. Learn to Take Breaks When you begin to feel stuck, take a brief step away. Our brains can't handle constant stimulation. Take a walk, have a coffee, or call a friend. When you return, deep work will come naturally. 7. Connect With Nature Nature is the greatest mentor. Humans were not meant to sit inside staring at a screen all day. • Get sunlight in your eyes • Observe plants in a garden • Go on walks without technology Find time to connect with nature. 8. Train Your Brain Instead of mindlessly scrolling social media, take time to play brain training games. • Solve a puzzle • Play chess or sudoku • Figure out a Rubik's Cube Games enhance your short-term memory, which will improve concentration and focus. 9. Exercise Fluid intelligence starts decreasing at the age of 25 for the rest of your life. The only way to stave this off: Exercise. Do 3 rounds of ~30 minutes of cardio a week for enhanced blood flow and circulation to your brain. 10. Eat Well Avoid carbs in the morning while doing your most focused work. Consuming carbs raises serotonin, which will put you into a drowsy state. Instead, eat protein and fats throughout the day, and save carbs for the evening. Uplevel your concentration and focus. ______________________ Original Content Creator: Matt Gray (give him a follow)

Parkinson’s Law suggests that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. This can lead to inefficiency as tasks take longer than necessary. To avoid this trap: 1. Set Strict Deadlines: Challenge yourself with tighter deadlines to enhance focus. 2. Break Tasks into Smaller Steps: Manage complexity by dividing tasks into clear, actionable parts. 3. Use Timers: Monitor time spent on tasks to maintain pace and stay on track. 4. Limit Distractions: Designate times for potential distractions to remain focused during work periods. 5. Evaluate Your Workload Regularly: Assess task complexity to allocate appropriate time for quality completion. 6. Prioritize Tasks: Tackle high-priority items first to ensure significant tasks are completed efficiently. 7. Reflect on Your Efficiency: Review your accomplishments and strategize for increased efficiency in the future. 8. Hold Yourself Accountable: Share your goals with others or create an accountability system to enforce your deadlines. 9. Balance Quality with Efficiency: Aim for a productive workflow that does not compromise the quality of outcomes. Conscious time management and intentional work habits are crucial to avoiding the Parkinson’s Law trap. How do you currently manage your time to stay productive, and which of these strategies might you implement to further avoid the Parkinson’s Law trap?

You don’t need more hours in the day. You need to protect the ones you already have. Here’s how HR pros can get more of the 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 work done, without staying late or dropping the ball. Let’s be real. Working in HR can feel like being on call 24/7. Emails. Slack messages. Drop-ins. Emergencies. You want to help, but your real work gets sidelined. Sound familiar? These five habits help you take back control: 1️⃣ 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲 “𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸” 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 → Put time on your calendar where you're unavailable. → Even two 45-minute blocks a day can move the needle. 2️⃣ 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘆: “𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄” → You don’t need to drop everything for every request. → A short, kind delay protects your priorities. 3️⃣ 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗳𝗳 → Checking email all day kills your focus. → Set two or three times to do quick replies. Then stop. 4️⃣ 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗮 ‘𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘅’ → Not everything is urgent. → But if you don't sort it, everything feels urgent. → Sort tasks into: Do It, Schedule It, Delegate It, Drop It. 5️⃣ 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯 → Because it is. → Delegating isn’t giving up control, it's clearing space to lead. Early in my HR career, I said yes to everyone, and ended up doing 𝘮𝘺 work on the weekends. You don’t have to do it all. You just have to protect time for what matters most. What helps you stay focused on high-impact HR work? ♻️ I appreciate 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 repost. 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗛𝗥 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀? Click the "𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿" link below my name for weekly tips to elevate your career! #Adamshr #Hrprofessionals #humanresources #HR #theinsider   #hrcommunity Adams HR Consulting Stephanie Adams, SPHR

3 steps to master productivity: There's a limit on what you can do in a single day. At least competently. Throughout my career as a lawyer I've noticed a clear correlation. The more I try to do in a shorter period of time, the more the quality of my work product suffers. Small mistakes emerge. The polish on my final product loses its shine and becomes smudged. Here's what to do instead: 1. Used focused blocks. Limit your work to 2 or 3 hour blocks on a single task. This practice stops your brain from wasting energy on constant task transitions. Each switch incurs a cognitive penalty, and you have to reboot your brain to download the context surrounding the task. Focused blocks avoid frequent mental transitions and promote deep work. They enhance your concentration, and improve the quality of your end work product. 2. Reduce daily priorities If you can, set a maximum of 3 priorities each day. This approach prevents you from overloading your schedule and stepping into counterproductive territory. Stop saying yes to every assignment. Don't be afraid to turn away potential clients. With fewer priorities, your focus sharpens, and you give each task the attention it deserves. 3. Segment your day Dedicate specific parts of your day to distinct activities, often called "chunking". In the context of productivity, "chunking" refers to the practice of breaking up the workday into distinct, manageable segments or chunks of time dedicated to specific tasks or types of work. For example, you can dedicate the first two hours of your workday solely to deep work, then chunking email responses and meetings into later, more fragmented parts of the day. Try just one of these strategies and see what kind of difference it makes with your productivity and quality of your work. Follow me, James Kamanski, for more insights on personal growth! ♻ if you found value 🙏

✅ Here’s something that helps me prioritize my mental health and be more productive during my workday. 🔍 What I do: - Schedule focus blocks the first and last hour of my day. - Inform my team that I’d prefer not to meet or be contacted then. - Use the first hour to set my priorities for the day and start working on my most important task. - Use the last hour to track the current status of in-progress tasks and reflect on my day. The result? I’m not as rushed or stressed out during the day. These quiet moments at the beginning and end of my workday help me avoid burnout. And I actually get more work done this way. 📌 Try this if you want to boost your productivity and mental wellness.

As a founder or executive, it is easy to get lost among multiple fires, meetings, and competing priorities. One of the most impactful things you can do for yourself (and your team) is to set boundaries, guidelines and processes to make sure you are focused on the most impactful items throughout the day. This is easier said than done but below are few things that have helped me become more effective and may help you as well. 🙅🏽♀️ No meeting days: At Cocora.io we have no meetings on Monday and Wednesday as well as Friday afternoon. I learned this working with Alexander Torrenegra at Bunny Studio. In practice, this means we block our calendars and will only take meetings unless it is absolutely urgent and important. This gives us uninterrupted time for deep work. 💡 Know your focus patterns and plan accordingly: I do my best deep work in the mornings. That is why my calendar has no open slots in the morning. This allows me to work on things that require high concentration and finish them faster (and better) than if I had worked on them in the afternoon/evening. ✅ Write your priorities: The first thing I do in the morning is write down the 2-4 most important items I need to complete that day. I avoid working on other items unless they are more urgent and important than the items I wrote down ⚡️ Manage your energy: There are days when you can work for 16 hours straight and be highly productive. There are days when you are exhausted and will not be productive if you work for more than 8 hours straight. During those low energy days, you want to find ways to recharge or work on tasks that require less mental energy so you can recharge. It is better to work 8 hours at 90% effectiveness than 12 hours at 40% effectiveness. 🕰 Time audit: Monitor what you are spending your time on. This will not only let you see where you are spending more time than you should, it also serves to keep you accountable. #timemanagement #leadership #effectiveness #effectiveleadership

Are you overwhelmed by tasks each day? Here's how I increase my productivity... Whether you lead a small team or a large department, there never seems to be enough hours in the day. You can strictly control your calendar, but might still fall short of your daily goals. If you want to work more efficiently, try the Pomodoro Technique. 1️⃣ Set a 25-minute timer. This a "pomodoro." ↳ Focus on one specific task. ↳ Do not check email, answer messages, or jump from task to task. 2️⃣ After 25 minutes, take a break for 5 minutes. ↳ Get a cup of coffee or snack, check through emails and messages, etc. 3️⃣ Repeat 3 more times. ↳ Take a longer break of 15-20 minutes after the third pomodoro. It's a relatively simple practice to better manage your focus and productivity. The technique structures your time and tasks to avoid distractions. But here's a confession... I am not a fan, or at least not as it is usually applied. I feel that it needs some improvements. It takes several minutes to get into the task. And just as you dive deep, the timer interrupts you. So instead of 25 minutes of intense work, you really only capitalize on 20 minutes or less. Instead, I prefer a timer of 45 minutes. This guarantees enough time in the focus and flow, but also enough intervals before my productivity drops. I also don't ignore other concerns that need my attention. Back in the corporate world, I would mute all messages except those from my team. On days with a lot of meetings, it was more difficult to set a 45-minute timer. But I could still resist the temptation to jump to another task, even for 1-2 minutes. PS. What tips and tricks do you use to stay productive? 🔔 Follow Chris Cotter for more on #leadership.