Listen to audio version
One of the questions I often ask leaders is, “Do you feel you get enough time to think?”
The answer is usually no.
Thinking is some of the most valuable work a leader can do. You need space to make sound decisions, solve complex problems, understand emerging issues and develop new ideas. Yet many leadership calendars are filled with meetings, messages and urgent requests, leaving little space for work that requires careful thought. Deep focus is the ability to concentrate fully on one worthwhile topic for a sustained period. It requires a clear outcome, uninterrupted time and enough mental space to stay with the issue. These conditions rarely appear by accident. You need to create and protect them.
In my book Lead Smart, I suggest four commitments that make deep focus more achievable.
Choose a defined topic
Start each focus session with a specific topic in mind. Decide what you want to understand, solve, create or complete.
A broad intention such as “work on strategy” gives your attention too much room to wander. A defined outcome gives your thinking direction. You might aim to draft a strategy paper, resolve a resourcing issue or prepare a recommendation for an upcoming decision.
Before you begin, ask yourself, “What would success look like at the end of this session?”
Protect the time
Your calendar will fill if you leave open space available. Schedule focus time before other demands claim it.
I aim to protect three blocks of two hours each week. I put them in my calendar as placeholders a couple of weeks ahead, then decide on the specific topic during my weekly planning.
Treat these blocks with the same respect you would give a meeting with an important stakeholder. Move them when circumstances genuinely require it and reschedule them immediately. Routine email can wait for another time. Your best thinking hours are an expensive resource, so spend them on work that benefits from your full attention.
Great leaders have the courage to prioritise this time over the urgency of day-to-day work. There will always be an immediate issue competing for your attention. There will always be another urgent meeting that appears unable to proceed without your attendance. But deep focus work requires your attendance too and is often a more strategic use of your time. Protecting space to think allows you to give important work the attention it deserves.
Minimise distractions
External distractions are usually easy to identify. Calls, email alerts, Teams messages and interruptions from colleagues can break your concentration within seconds. Turn off notifications and silence your phone.
The environment you create has a significant impact on your ability to focus. Create a space and a set of circumstances that support deep focus. Choose a location where you can concentrate, such as a meeting room, home office or different floor. Make it clear to others that you are unavailable and remove anything likely to draw your attention away from the work.
Internal distractions deserve just as much attention. An unfinished action, pressing concern or stray idea can keep returning while you are trying to think.
Spend ten minutes clearing the mental clutter before the session. Deal with anything genuinely urgent, capture unfinished actions in your task system and have the relevant documents ready. This helps your mind settle and makes it easier to give the chosen topic your full attention.
Stay the course
Deep focus can feel uncomfortable initially, especially if you’ve become accustomed to the constant stimulation of messages, alerts and small tasks. Give yourself time to become immersed.
Learn what supports your concentration. Music works well for me, while a friend prefers the background noise of a café. Some people do their best thinking early in the morning. Others find their energy and concentration peaks later in the day.
This week, choose one important topic and schedule a protected block of time to work on it.
Define the outcome you want to achieve. Remove likely distractions. Then give the topic your full attention.
Repeat this for the next four weeks and pay attention to the results. You may find yourself making better decisions, producing higher-quality work and making progress on issues that have been sitting unattended for too long.
If that happens, don’t treat deep focus as an occasional productivity technique. Make it a leadership habit.