Value of focus
The value of focus
Have you ever had one of those weeks where you did everything wrong? That was me last week, and I ended the week feeling frustrated with myself that I hadn't done what I needed to do.
As I mentioned in last week's blog, it is important to stop and reflect. So I did. Sharing my reflections with you here, in case they trigger some reflection for you too!
I wasn't clear on the most important things to achieve. I didn't start the week with exercise and reflection time, which would have helped me get that clarity.
And I think my biggest challenge was that even though I had scheduled good blocks of focus time, I squandered them flicking between the thousand ideas and 'could-do's' buzzing around my mind. Even when I recognised I was being inefficient I didn't stop and reset, but kept sitting at my deskperformingbusy.
By the end of the week I was frustrated with myself. The cost of task-switching is real!
The research backs this up. Productivity Hub* reports it takes 23 minutes to fully refocus after an interruption, and that office workers check email every 6 minutes, self-inflicting interruptions on themselves!
Add an 'always-on' culture created by technology, and it can be easy to get to the end of the week having worked many hours yet feeling like nothing has actually been achieved. We have allowed 'shallow work' to become a time-thief.
So what are some of the most effective things we can do to create Deep Work time and raise productivity?
Understand: Be clear about whether the interruptions arestructural(how work is designed),cultural(team, office, and/or home environment creating interruptions), orpersonal(distractions or poor quality focus)
Prioritise: Which is the biggest barrier to quality focus time? Don't try to solve everything at once. Is it Teams or Slack chats? Is it personal distractions? Is it an individual?
Solution: Identify one solution which will do more than anything else to carve out and protect your valuable Deep Work time. And commit to doing this every day for 2 weeks - long enough to form a habit.
For me, after conducting a productivity audit for myself, it's personal. I'm going back to basics to create Deep Work time, and utilising the Pomodoro Technique to ensure I get the most out of those valuable blocks of focus time.
And I'm designating my days for focus on different types of tasks or parts of my business to minimise the temptation for my mind to switch.
What about you?
Productivity Tip of the Day
This week I'm sharing Productivity Hub's research on Focus*, which offers five research-backed strategies to improve focus.
Pomodoro is where you divide a 2 hour focus block into 4 x 25 min work periods, broken up with 5 minute breaks. Do not work through the breaks.
They are important brain- and body-breaks to maintain cognitive performance for longer.
*https://www.productivity.design/blog/productivity-statistics-2025
