Focus. #deliver Protect Your Focus
How do I protect my focus when everything is urgent?
Stop reacting. Put non-negotiable focus blocks on your calendar, silence the notifications and put the phone in another room, and stop feeding the algorithms. Set boundaries and say no without over-explaining. You get more done by protecting the space to deliver what matters than by answering everything that pings you.
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The tips, one per Thursday
38 editions of Focus. #deliver on this theme. Each links to the full article on LinkedIn.
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September 10, 2026
Schedule non-negotiable focus blocks weeks ahead and make people book around them.
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August 27, 2026
Turn off notifications, close email and chat for a set block — deep work needs uninterrupted silence.
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August 13, 2026
Put the phone in another room or on Do Not Disturb, face down, and give yourself undistracted time.
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June 18, 2026
Stop mindlessly clicking and scrolling — every click trains the algorithm to send you more noise; put the device down and choose where your attention goes.
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May 28, 2026
Go on an information diet: starve the algorithms and stop piling on other people's noise, so you have bandwidth left to execute your own ideas.
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May 7, 2026
Seek out real silence: turn off the car radio, walk without headphones, or sit in a quiet office for five minutes.
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April 30, 2026
Don't answer an opportunity immediately. Say "Let me check my calendar and get back to you tomorrow" and decide once the emotion has faded.
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April 23, 2026
Physically separate yourself from your device: put it in another room, close the laptop, shut the door.
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March 5, 2026
Put your phone out of sight, in another room or a drawer, during your block time.
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January 8, 2026
Remember that "No" is a complete sentence: you don't owe anyone an explanation for protecting your focus.
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October 2, 2025
It's OK to take no action, as long as you're deliberate about the decision.
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July 24, 2025
Pick one thing you can turn off today, and do what has worked for you in the past.
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July 3, 2025
Ask which gear you're in and which you should shift to next, up or down, instead of letting the "automatic transmission" of life decide.
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June 19, 2025
Unfollow people, then follow people outside your echo chamber and notice what changes.
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June 5, 2025
Stop thinking about focusing, and focus.
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November 14, 2024
Even when you're busy, make room to be available to others. It starts with being intentional about your time and getting good at saying no.
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October 24, 2024
Stop trying to please everyone; you can't. Be you.
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October 3, 2024
If you're getting walked on, pick one tip from past editions and use it to set one new boundary today.
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August 22, 2024
Let go of one thing today (skip, cancel, delete or postpone it), block that time on your calendar and spend it somewhere else.
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July 11, 2024
Stop trying to please all of the people all of the time; it's not possible.
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June 13, 2024
Choosing between two options? Remember Option 3: do nothing. You may not need to decide right now.
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March 21, 2024
Try an experiment: read one article all the way through without doing anything else, and see whether you can.
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January 11, 2024
Stop sitting around: set boundaries and say no, for you, your team and your organization.
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January 4, 2024
Be present: in your next meeting, even with one other person, stop doing everything else and give it your full attention.
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November 30, 2023
Unsubscribe from emails and notifications that give you no value, and notice the drop in cognitive load.
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July 20, 2023
Break often: try the Pomodoro Technique, and if 25 minutes of focus is too much, start with 5.
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June 8, 2023
You don't need anyone's permission to stand out: be different, then ask what ONE thing you can do with that to do less.
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May 4, 2023
When you're bombarded with advice, ignore the experts and naysayers, start one new thing and be OK being bad at it.
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April 13, 2023
Before you can be consistent, become consistent: build a routine so you stop reacting to everything, and ask for help if you're stuck.
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March 23, 2023
Schedule the important-but-not-urgent things you keep putting off.
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March 2, 2023
Delete the time-sucking apps, or at least turn off all notifications, to clear out the not-urgent, not-important stuff.
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September 1, 2022
Instead of walking the beam, take a stance, so you can say yes or a hard no with integrity.
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August 25, 2022
As a thought exercise, say yes to every opportunity that crosses your desk this week, without making any career-limiting moves.
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August 18, 2022
Say no: it's a complete sentence, and every yes that should have been a no pulls you away from something more important.
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July 14, 2022
Once you've blocked your calendar, create whitespace in that time: turn off notifications, remove distracting apps and observe what happens to your thoughts.
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June 30, 2022
Remove ONE app from your mobile device.
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June 23, 2022
Turn off ALL notifications (phone, email, Slack, messages) so you can be present.
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June 9, 2022
Create a calendar entry titled "BLOCK TIME" for heads-down work, and mark it Busy so nobody can steal your time.
More Focus. #deliver themes
- How do I recover when I'm exhausted, overwhelmed or stuck?
- How do I finish work instead of juggling half-done tasks?
- How do I avoid building things nobody needs?
- How do I stop wasting time on routines that add no value?
- How do I lead and communicate with less noise?
- How do I connect and collaborate with other people?