How Leaders Can Take Control of Their Time with a 'Focus Block'
Posted on February 16, 2018 by Matt DeYoung, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.
Most leaders manage their time by dealing with whatever DEMANDS their attention. Take back control of your time by planning out your attention.
When do you get your best ideas as a leader? William James said, “Concentration; it implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others.”
Do you have a designated block of time in your schedule where you can focus? No interruptions are allowed. You can double your leadership productivity this way.
I teach my executive coaching clients to manage their ATTENTION and ENERGY before anything else. time management flows easily from there.
Allocate time to people, projects, and tasks based on what demands your best attention and energy first thing in the day.
Try It Out. Create a ‘Focus Block.’
Decide what needs your best energy first. Schedule that as a top priority on your calendar. Then, give it your full attention for a short period of time without interruption. Leave your office if you have to.
- Choose a 90-minute section of your morning. Schedule this ‘Focus Block’ as early as you can in your day.
- Create an appointment for yourself in your calendar software. Set it as a recurring event.
- Announce your commitment to have a Focus Block on your daily schedule to your team. Explain to your team you will be ‘off the grid’ for this block of time. Having this block allows you to give your team your full attention the rest of the day.
- Keep your Focus Block as sacred as any other meeting. Don’t give it away or let other people interrupt this time.
- Choose 10x, results-oriented work to fill this Focus Block each day. What you work on during this time should be $1000/hour or $10,000/hour work, not the $10/hour stuff. (This is how I work with my coaching clients. I hold them accountable for it. )
- Work inside this short period of time with a higher intensity. RELENTLESSLY OBSESS over one thing during your focus block.
- When your time is up, stop working. You’ll be tempted to keep working. Don’t. Save it for your next block. Go check in with your team.
- Build a rhythm over 7 days.
