Scheduling Deep Work Intervals

Your to-do list is lying to you I've seen leaders complete every task and still watch their companies stall. A Series A founder I coached showed me his productivity dashboard with pride: "Peter, look at this. 94% completion rate. 14-hour days. Yet we're stuck at $5.2M and I haven't slept through the night in months." His system was immaculate: ↳ Notion workspace organized by OKRs ↳ Calendar optimized to the minute ↳ Zero inbox maintained religiously ↳ Daily metrics tracked in real-time By conventional standards, he was winning. But in reality? His creative thinking had vanished. Strategic initiatives were stagnant. His best executives were quietly updating their LinkedIn profiles. The truth is uncomfortable: Productivity isn't progress. Busyness isn't business. Activity isn't achievement. The Productivity Paradox works like this: 1. The False Efficiency Cycle ↳ More efficiency → more tasks ↳ More tasks → fragmented attention ↳ Fragmented attention → shallow decisions ↳ Shallow decisions → misaligned effort 2. The Measurement Trap ↳ We count completions, not contributions ↳ We track hours, not impact ↳ We celebrate speed, not direction → We optimize for what's visible, not what's valuable 3. The Strategic Reversal ↳ Deliberately incomplete: Leave space for deep thinking ↳ Scheduled disconnection: Two hours daily without digital interruption ↳ Ruthless elimination: Remove one recurring meeting weekly ↳ Recovery blocks: 20-minute breaks between high-stakes decisions to prevent burnout ↳ Outcome obsession: Ask "Does this move us toward our core metric?" When my client implemented these principles: ↳ Weekly commitments dropped from 63 to 27 ↳ Deep work sessions increased from 2 to 8 hours weekly ↳ Strategic conversations replaced status updates The results after one quarter? ↳ Revenue growth unblocked (18% increase) ↳ Team attrition stopped completely ↳ Burnout symptoms reversed ↳ His words: "I finally feel like a CEO, not a task manager" Real progress isn't measured in checkmarks. It's measured in meaningful advancement toward what truly matters. Which meaningless productivity metric are you sacrificing your wellbeing for this week?

Want to know why top performers close 2-3x more deals than average reps? It's not that they're smarter. It's that they've mastered deep work. After studying hundreds of high-performing sellers, I've found one consistent pattern: They protect their prime selling hours like their life depends on it. Most reps are drowning in shallow work, constantly switching between email, Slack, CRM updates, and social media. Each task switch costs you 23 minutes of focused energy. The result is a day filled with activity but empty of results. Here's how innovative sellers are implementing deep work: 1️⃣ Power Blocks They schedule 90-minute uninterrupted blocks for their most important selling activities. No email. No Slack. No phone. Just focused execution on revenue-generating work. 2️⃣ Energy Management They align their most important tasks with their peak energy hours. For most, that's 9-11 AM, not 3 PM after back-to-back meetings. 3️⃣ AI-Powered Prep They leverage AI to prepare for sales calls in half the time. "I feed the AI my call notes, recent news, and past objections. It gives me a hyper-focused prep document in 5 minutes instead of 45." 4️⃣ Elimination Before Optimization Before trying to get faster at tasks, they ask: "Does this task even need to exist?" You can't optimize what should be eliminated. 5️⃣ Digital Minimalism They turn off all notifications during selling hours. No Slack pings. No email popups. No LinkedIn alerts. The sellers implementing these practices aren't working more hours. They're just getting 3x more value from the hours they work. Most sales organizations obsess over activity metrics while ignoring the quality of focus behind them. What would happen if you protected just one 90-minute deep work block every day?

Fractional Improvement: Energy Management vs. Time Management This week, I'm shifting my focus from managing my calendar to managing my energy. We've all experienced those days: 8 productive hours fly by effortlessly, while on others, a simple task feels like climbing Everest. The difference isn't time—it's energy. Time is fixed at 24 hours daily, but energy fluctuates dramatically. By mapping my energy patterns instead of just blocking my calendar, I'm able to match tasks to my natural rhythms. What this looks like in practice: ⏲️Scheduling complex financial modeling and client strategy work during my morning peak (9-11am) when my analytical thinking is sharpest ⏲️Shifting admin tasks, emails, and routine reporting to mid-afternoon (2-4pm) when I naturally experience a cognitive dip ⏲️Taking a proper lunch break away from my desk to reset mentally before afternoon commitments ⏲️Planning "deep work" in 90-minute blocks rather than arbitrary time slots, aligning with our brain's natural focus cycles I've realized that I've been fighting my own biology by trying to perform equally well at all hours. Last week, I kept a diary to log my energy patterns and create a personal "heat map" of when I'm best suited for different types of work. The results are revealing: I'm completing complex tasks more efficiently, experiencing less mental fatigue, and—surprisingly—finding more creativity in those natural energy peaks. As a Founder with an endless to do list, working with your natural cycles rather than against them might be the most important optimization of all. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ✨ Fractional Improvement ✨ This is part of my weekly series highlighting one specific area I'm focusing on improving. Small, deliberate changes compound over time into significant growth. Have you noticed patterns in your own energy levels throughout the day? How do you align your most demanding work with your peak performance hours? #FractionalImprovement #ProductivityHacks #FractionalFinance #EnergyManagement

Back-to-back meetings can crush your week. Your calendar is packed.  Your focus is shredded. Your 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 work slides to Friday. What if one weekday had ZERO meetings? 🟢 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀: → No-Meeting Wednesday is a team rule. → One day with no standing meetings. → Use it for deep work, planning, and decisions. → Plenty of companies try one focus day each week. → They report more output and calmer teams. 🔵 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀: → Less bouncing between tasks. → Better thinking time. → Cleaner handoffs. → Less burnout risk. → You finish the work you start. 🟣 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝘁: → Pick the day and protect it on the shared calendar. → Set the rules: no recurring meetings, emergencies only. → Shift updates to async notes or a short Loom. → Limit Slack and email pings. Try quiet hours. Measure results: docs shipped, stories closed, decisions made. Review individual wins in the next staff meeting. ▶️ 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘀: Lead by example. If leaders book over it, the team will too. Give a script for pushback: “Let’s move this to Thursday. Wednesday is for focused delivery.” Start with a 4-week test. Survey the team. Keep what works. ▶️ 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿-𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 Try a split: meetings before 11, focus after. Or rotate the day by function. If you work across time zones, protect one shared block for focus and schedule meetings outside that block. ▶️ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 → Draft the compensation plan. → Build a headcount model. → Clean your SOPs. → Write tough messages with care. → Ship one thing that moves the business. Would your team commit to one meeting-free day each week? #HR #DeepWork #Productivity ♻️ I appreciate 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 repost. 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗛𝗥 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀? Visit my profile and join my newsletter for weekly tips to elevate your career! Stephanie Adams, SPHR #Adamshr #Hrprofessionals #humanresources #HR #hrcommunity Adams HR Consulting

How I Prioritize Deep Work as a Program Manager at Amazon Deep work isn’t about working longer—it’s about working better. Early in my career, my calendar was packed with meetings, leaving little room for focused, high-impact work. Then I noticed how a senior leader blocked out entire afternoons for “strategy time” with zero interruptions. That practice transformed my approach to time management. Here’s how I prioritize deep work effectively: 1️⃣ Time Blocking with a Twist I block at least two hours of deep work daily, but I also set an “emergency exit”—a single task I’ll switch to if urgent issues come up. This flexibility has prevented more than one deep work block from getting derailed. 2️⃣ Meeting-Free Mornings I reserve mornings for deep work and limit meetings to the afternoon whenever possible. This practice has doubled my productivity on complex tasks. During a recent roadmap planning session, this focus led to a clearer and more actionable plan. 3️⃣ Context Over Time I prepare a quick one-pager summarizing the context, goals, and next steps for every deep work session. This practice helps me get into flow faster by eliminating decision fatigue. Deep work isn’t about isolation—it’s about intention. If you’re struggling to focus, try blocking time for deep work with a clear purpose. How do you prioritize deep work? #DeepWork #Productivity #TimeManagement #Amazon

12 steps to protect your focus - And develop a deep work routine: (5 and 6 are so important) 1) Prioritize ↳Before you begin, pick just 1 task you want to work on (no multitasking) ↳Choose your "frog" - the important item you've been putting off 2) Protect the time ↳Find a window of at least 1 hour (2-3 is even better) and block it on your calendar ↳Experiment to find the time when you're most productive and focused 3) Find a space ↳Choose a location where you can close the door and limit distractions ↳Ask others not to interrupt you when you're in there 4) Prepare ↳Download files and gather resources you'll need to complete the work ↳Go to the bathroom, grab a water, and anticipate any other needs 5) Put your phone away ↳Switch your phone to airplane mode and put it out of reach ↳Do NOT look at it until you're finished - that friend's text can wait 6) Shut apps  ↳Close anything on your computer that has notifications, like email and Slack ↳X out of any distracting tabs like news sites or social media 7) Grab a pen and pad ↳It's impossible to stop to-dos and other thoughts from popping into your head ↳Simply write them down when you think of them and then move on 8) Use headphones ↳If you're particularly sensitive to sound, try noise-canceling headphones ↳Find what's best for you: playing nothing at all, white noise, or music without lyrics 9) Clear your mind ↳When everything is ready, pause before diving in to briefly relax ↳You can simply close your eyes and breathe, or do a 1-minute meditation 10) Use a timer ↳Set a timer so you don't have to worry about watching the clock ↳Experiment with techniques like Pomodoro to work and break in intervals 11) Improve ↳After every time you do deep work, reflect on what helped and hurt your focus ↳Make improvements each time to consistently enhance your productivity 12) Handle the basics ↳Exhaustion, hunger, and lack of exercise can be even worse for focus than your phone ↳Get adequate sleep, eat well, and move your body every day Just two hours of deep work can beat a full day of distracted work. Use this checklist to focus deeply on your most important tasks, And turbocharge your productivity. P.S. I'm always curious to hear: When do you get your best deep work done? --- ♻ Repost to help your network be more productive. And follow me George Stern for more. If you want the high-res PDF of this sheet, sign up here: https://lnkd.in/gpe6Q3V6

The biggest threat to your productivity? Your brain is wired for distraction. And unless you retrain it… you’ll never do meaningful work. I sat down with Cal Newport (author of Deep Work) to unpack his playbook for rewiring your brain for focus. (You can listen to our full convo right here: https://yap.show/CLonYT) Here are 9 practical steps that’ll change how you work FOREVER 👇🏼 🧠 SET THE MINDSET 🧠  1️⃣ 3 Principles of Deep Work ↳ Do fewer things at once – your sustainability and overall productivity will increase. ↳ Work at your natural pace – plan for harder seasons, and easier seasons.  ↳ Obsess over quality – when you care about the quality of your work, you will care less for pseudo productivity. 2️⃣ Embrace Boredom ↳ Being distracted all the time impacts your focus everywhere else. ↳ Expose yourself to boredom throughout the day so when it comes down to “boring” deep work, your brain is used to this psychological state. ↳ Start by running an errand once a week without your phone. 3️⃣ Give Yourself More Time ↳ Our brains are bad at predicting how much time an abstract task will take. ↳ Our default setting is that tasks will take a lot less time than they actually do. ↳ Plan out your schedule as normal… Then double it. 💻 SET THE STAGE 💻 4️⃣ Work Rituals ↳ Rituals can guide your brain into a new cognitive state. ↳ Find different places to work on different tasks.  ↳ Incorporate physical movement into your ritual. ↳ As you shift into your deep work flow, think about what you want to complete. 5️⃣ The Push & Pull System ↳ Create a running list of initiatives and action items. ↳ Sort them in order of most to least priority. ↳ When a task is “pushed” onto your plate, update the list accordingly. ↳ Focus working on the top 3 tasks.  ↳ Once complete with a task, pull another from the queue. 6️⃣ Review Your Weekly Calendar & Ask Yourself ↳ How much free time do I have? ↳ When is this free time? ↳ What are the smallest changes that would make the biggest difference? ↳ What would make this calendar less stressful? 🗓️ SET THE SCHEDULE 🗓️  7️⃣ Time Blocking ↳ Time block your calendar in 30/60 minute increments with a specific task. ↳ Use the Pomodoro method (25min work/5min break) to gamify your tasks. ↳ Reward yourself with a distraction after you’ve completed your task. ↳ This gives your brain clarity on what it’s supposed to be working on. 8️⃣ Multiscale Planning ↳ Write out your quarterly, weekly and daily goals. ↳ When you work on your weekly plan, refer to your quarterly plan. ↳ When you work on your daily plan, refer to your weekly plan. ↳ This gives you a more realistic idea on how much time to set per goal. 9️⃣ Schedule Slow Work Seasons ↳ No meeting days once a week.  ↳ End work early once a month. ↳ Schedule rest project after a major one. ↳ Work in focused 6 - 8 week cycles, with a 2 week cool-down period afterwards. If you made it to the end… What productivity method are you going to start using today? 👇🏼

How I Manage My Time as a Mom, Coach, and Director 7 Game-Changing Time Management Tips for 2025 Juggling motherhood, coaching, and leadership roles, I’ve tested countless strategies. These seven are the real game-changers—ones you won’t hear often but will transform how you approach time in 2025. 1. I Design My Weeks, Not Just My Days Most people plan their days, but I batch-design my weeks. Mondays are for deep work. Tuesdays and Thursdays for client calls. Wednesdays for content. Fridays for strategy. This eliminates decision fatigue and keeps me mentally prepared for each type of task. 2. The 30% Rule for Meetings & Calls I never book more than 30% of my available hours in meetings or calls. Why? Because deep work and creative thinking need space. If my schedule feels too ‘full,’ my performance drops. Meetings should move the needle, not just fill time. 3. I Use “Focus Hours” Instead of Time Blocking Time blocking is great in theory, but life happens. Instead, I use “Focus Hours”—2-3 daily slots where I go completely offline, eliminate distractions, and focus on high-impact tasks. No multitasking, just flow. 4. My To-Do List Has a ‘Don’t Do’ Section Every morning, I write a "Don’t Do" list: things I could do but shouldn’t. This prevents me from getting stuck in low-impact work. Example: “Don’t check LinkedIn before writing content” or “Don’t reply to emails before 11 AM.” 5. I Work with My Energy, Not Against It Instead of forcing productivity at all hours, I schedule work around my natural energy cycles. Mornings = deep work. Afternoons = calls. Evenings = light admin. Aligning work with energy creates momentum, not burnout. 6. I Automate, Delegate, and Delete Ruthlessly Anything repetitive gets automated. Anything outside my genius zone gets delegated. Anything unnecessary gets deleted. Time is too valuable to spend on things that don’t drive results. Mastering this was a game-changer. 7. I Prioritize Peace Over Productivity If I’m not calm, focused, and present—my time management fails no matter how structured it is. I meditate daily, protect my downtime, and embrace “white space” in my schedule to avoid burnout. Because rested minds create powerful results. Hope these tips help you manage your time and master productivity without burnout.

As a product leader, have you ever felt like you're constantly working two jobs? Meetings by day, real work by night. You're not alone As product leaders, we're constantly juggling two distinct roles: the strategic thinker 🧠 and the team manager 👥. Finding the right balance between deep work and rapid context switching can be a daunting challenge, especially in today's hybrid work environment. In my latest article, I discuss the concept of the Maker's Schedule vs. Manager's Schedule, why product managers and leaders need to do both, and provide a four-step approach to designing a time management strategy that enables you to excel: 1️⃣ Audit and plan your time to align with priorities 2️⃣ Implement your ideal schedule by culling meetings and blocking off deep work time 3️⃣ Protect your time by saying "no," setting boundaries, and coordinating with your team 4️⃣ Create mental space for deep work using warm-up tasks, managing energy, and transition rituals Mastering the maker-manager balance is an ongoing journey that requires intentionality and experimentation. By understanding the demands of both roles and implementing these strategies, you can significantly boost your productivity and impact as a product leader. 📈💡 Want to learn more? Check out the full article and let me know your thoughts! What strategies have you found effective for managing your time as a product leader? 👇 #ProductManagement #TimeManagement #Leadership #DeepWork #ProductLeaders

Your brain isn’t a machine. It’s a rhythm-based system with limits and most of us are breaking it daily. If you’ve ever pushed through a workday… ⏰ Ignored your need for breaks 🧠 Tried to do focused work for 8+ hours straight 🔥 Felt burnt out even after being “productive” …it’s not because you’re lazy or lacking discipline. You’re just working against your hOS, your Human Operating System. ➡️ Your brain is wired for 90-minute sprints ➡️ Your prefrontal cortex (focus + decision-making) only has 4–6 hours of deep work battery ➡️ Without recovery breaks, your performance plummets (even if you’re still staring at the screen) So instead of forcing productivity, try partnering with your biology. Here’s a simple place to start: 📍 Take 2–10 minute recovery breaks between deep work sprints 📍 Align your schedule with your natural chronotype These micro-shifts can unlock massive energy, clarity, and stamina, no burnout required. 🎯 Want to find your peak performance style? Take my Powered-Up Performance Profile Quiz, in the comments, to learn if you're living and working WITH your hOS, or AGAINST it. #speaker #NeuroPerformance #performance #SpciousSuccess