Tips for Scheduling Deep Work Sessions

At the end of 2023, I hated my calendar…. So I ripped it apart, and started fresh. Here's what I did to make my calendar work for me, not the other way around. 1) Map out your dreams - created a new calendar in gcal - literally called it my "Calendar Map" - and planned out what my dream week would look like. Thought about what I wanted in a great week (for me that was time for deep work in the afternoons, a couple mornings where I don't have calls before 10am, stacking my 1:1's next to each other, etc). Everything went in there, from workouts, to networking calls/coffee chats, to recurring team meetings and 1:1s. If it's not on your calendar, you're not prioritizing it. 2) The Purge - In January, Stacker went through a Calendar Purge. Inspired by Shopify, we deleted ALL meetings on everyone's calendar, and then 24 hours later allowed people to repopulate, but it gave everyone a chance to rethink each meeting, and equally importantly gave me a chance to reorganize things according to my calendar map. 3) Refresh - There were 2 really important things when it came to repopulating my calendar    a) question everything - does that 1:1 need to be weekly, or could it be bi-weekly? is that recurring meeting we set up 6 months ago still necessary?      b) use the map - 1:1s used to be sporadic throughout my week, now I have a block of them, which allows me to better prep and mentally show up for people. My calendar used to look like a zebra with random 30 minute free blocks interspersed between meetings. Now I have blocks for calls, and blocks for creative/deep work. I can't stick to this 100% of the time, but it has made scheduling things a lot easier, and acts as a good reminder/reinforcement of what I aspire for each week to look like, versus just succumbing to whatever gets thrown my way. Would highly (HIGHLY) recommend this to anyone who feels like their calendar runs them, and not the other way around. Inertia is strong, and a refresh can help shock the system.

As an academic, I know how easy it is to feel pulled in a million directions. Between teaching, research, meetings, and deadlines, the distractions are endless. I struggled with this for the longest time until I discovered the power of deep, focused work. It changed everything. Now, instead of juggling tasks, I commit to structured, focused work sessions. Here’s what helped me, and it might just help you too: 1. Set Clear Priorities ↳ Know exactly what needs your attention before you start the day. For me, it’s the key research tasks that move the needle. 2. Time Block Your Tasks ↳ Allocate specific blocks of time for uninterrupted work. Teaching prep? 8-9 PM and 5-7 AM. Research? 1-3 PM. Editorial and industry engagement work? Fridays. No distractions. 3. Eliminate Distractions ↳ I turn off all notifications—emails, texts, you name it. A quiet workspace is the foundation of deep work. 4. Work in Sprints ↳ The Pomodoro Technique (25 minutes work, 5-minute breaks) has been a real game-changer. It keeps my energy and focus up all day. 5. Review and Adjust ↳ At the end of the day, I reflect on what worked and make tweaks for tomorrow. This small habit keeps me improving. If you’re feeling stretched thin, try making deep, focused work a priority this week. The results—both in productivity and peace of mind—will speak for themselves. Wishing you all a focused and productive week! #mondaybits #deepwork #FutureProofYourLeadership #focus #productivity

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

In 2018, I used to think I was special. I was different. I could multi-task when somehow others couldn't. I felt so productive... Lol I was an idiot. I was always feeling rushed and compromising on quality. So I would juggle many things at once, believing I figured out "multi-tasking". I learned multi-tasking is a myth. It leads to shallow work - not DEEP work. Accept that, and prioritize FOCUSED time. My deepest work, the things I've invented or created, came from being immersed in the 12 foot deep end of the "problem pool". NOT the 2 feet shallow kiddy "problem pool". You’d be surprised, but delivering high-quality work quickly isn’t just a pipe dream like I used to think early in my career. And here’s the best part: you don’t need to sacrifice your sanity to achieve it. Here's what I learned. One day, I had enough of feeling rushed. I decided to experiment with time-blocking. I dedicated specific times for focused work and breaks. This simple change transformed my productivity. The work I hold a technical patent for came from this time-blocking. The SKUs I've launched that have been successful, I largely owe setting time away for deep work. (and of course AWESOME teammates, cause you can't do it alone) Suddenly, I was completing tasks faster with greater quality. I found that breaking work into smaller, manageable chunks allowed me to maintain a high standard while moving swiftly through my to-do list (and checking off the todos really got me feeling great, which accelerated my momentum!) Try this 👇 Beginner Mode: Start by identifying your top most important three tasks for the day and tackling them FIRST with no distractions. Take notes of your meetings so you can reference them later. Your brain has limited RAM, so invest in long term storage (notes). Advanced Mode: Schedule deep work sessions during your peak productivity hours (morning = technical work, afternoon = creative work) and minimize distractions. Expert Mode: Plan your week ahead of time. Lump together similar groups of tasks/actions for specific days, or blocks of the day. Cancel calendar invites that do not have a purpose or meeting invite. Those are wastes of time. Politely decline and ask them to move it async. You’ll soon find yourself producing top-notch work at a faster pace, making both you and your team more efficient and satisfied. You won't feel rushed, and your output will be greater and of higher quality. What're some of your productivity tips? Drop it in the comments.

I was working with a coaching client recently, a senior guy with a crazy workload who needed to get more out of his days. We went right back to basics: We identified what time of day he does his best work - for him, it’s first thing in the morning. This is really precious time that has to be protected so that he can do the hard work that requires the most brain power. He normally gets into the office at 7am, but only has an hour or so before distractions in the form of other people, meetings, email and Teams messages arrive. So we removed all notifications from his laptop and phone. No more pop ups when a message arrives. To avoid the in-person interruptions he is now blocking out 7am to 10am every day in his calendar for deep work. (His diary was packed for the next few weeks, but we identified a date from which he is able to do this.) He is agreeing communication protocols with his team, based on those I used to use when I was at KPMG, which are: ✉️ Email - expect a response in a few days 💬 Teams / Slack messages - expect a response in a few hours 📞 If something is really urgent - pick up the phone Establishing these protocols manages everyone’s expectations and demolishes a very common default expectation that email or other messages need a quick response - most of a time they don’t, or if they do it is often because of poor planning by the sender. And to stop himself getting distracted by his own thoughts when he’s doing some deep work, he’s going to set a countdown timer on his laptop, either 25 minutes or 55 minutes, depending on what he’s doing. If he feels the urge to check email or remembers something else he has to do, he will check the timer as reminder to get back to the deep work, and he can look at the other thing once the time is up. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but these fundamentals are so effective, and I’m very excited about the really positive impact they’re going to have for him. If you could do with getting some time back in your day, I’d encourage you to give these a go too. #HighPerformance #Habits 📌 P.S. I can help your team perform better and get more time back for themselves. Productivity up, burnout risk down. Now booking into January 2024 - a great way to set your team off right for next year. If this sounds good, message me to find out more about creating an experience for your team that delivers feedback like this: ✅ "Fantastic - both the content of the presentation and the way it was delivered." ✅ "Extremely relatable content with some clear actions to take away and work on." ✅ "So much useful, practical detail with scientific backup where relevant." ✅ "Really well presented and perfect level of content." ✅ "You were brilliant - thank you!"

How I get more sh*t done before you have your AM coffee It's not working longer hours. It's brain science. People ask how I maintain such high output While staying calm. The secret? I sync my work to my brain's natural peaks. Science says the 52/17 rule is golden for peak performance. Your brain needs strategic breaks to maintain high output. To ensure those cognitive circuits... Are firing like a Formula 1 engine... You need to work with your natural rhythm. Here's how to hack your 12 peak performance windows: 1/ Morning Power Hour ↳ Cortisol peaks an hour after waking ↳ Schedule your hardest task then 2/ Attention Architecture ↳ The brain processes complex data better before noon ↳ Front-load strategic work before lunch 3/ Energy Management ↳ ATP (brain fuel) peaks in 52-minute cycles ↳ Use a timer for focused sprints 4/ Decision Windows ↳ Decision fatigue sets in after 3-4 hours ↳ Make key choices before 11am 5/ Creative Peaks ↳ Alpha brain waves surge during breaks ↳ Take 17-minute recharge periods 6/ Memory Optimization ↳ Information retention peaks in the morning (for me) ↳ Schedule learning during this window 7/ Communication Sweet Spots ↳ Social processing peaks mid-morning ↳ Book important meetings 10-11am 8/ Focus Enhancement ↳ Deep work capacity maxes at 4 hours daily ↳ Split into 2 x 2-hour blocks 9/ Recovery Rhythms ↳ The 2:55pm slump is biological ↳ Schedule light tasks for this time 10/ Evening Clarity ↳ Beta waves increase around 4-6pm ↳ Use this time for planning 11/ Temperature Timing ↳ Brain temp peaks impact cognitive performance ↳ Match complex work to your body temp peak 12/ Sleep Alignment ↳ REM sleep preps the brain for peak hours ↳ Protect your last 3 pre-sleep hours Remember: Your brain needs consistent timing. Small adjustments to your schedule Create massive performance gains. Which one will you try first? ------------------------------------------------- ♻️ Share to help others upgrade their performance ➕ Follow Shannon for science-backed productivity tips

Your meetings don't make you productive. Your back-to-back calls won't build great products. While scaling Caisy from 0 to enterprise clients, I discovered something powerful: Deep focus beats shallow productivity. Here are 6 traits that high-performing teams exhibit: 👁️ Protected focus time -> No meetings. No Slack. Just pure creation. 💪 Async-first culture -> Default to written updates over meetings. 💥 Clear priorities -> One main goal per week, not 10 scattered tasks. 🤲 Trust in outcomes -> Judge results, not hours worked. 🗣️ Strategic Silence -> Normalise quiet time for deep work. 🤝 Intentional collaboration -> Every meeting must have clear action items. Want to elevate your team's output? These 4 proven methods are your starting point: 1. Deep Work Blocks ↳ 90-minute focused sessions ↳ No distractions, no exceptions 2. Meeting Detox ↳ Cut meetings by 50% ↳ Replace with async updates 3. Energy Management ↳ Match complex tasks to peak hours ↳ Save admin work for low-energy times 4. Output Metrics ↳ Track impact, not activity ↳ Celebrate meaningful progress Your calendar isn't a magic wand. It won't make you productive if you're not intentional. Put these methods into action, and watch your team's creativity soar. Which method resonates most with you? Let me know in the comments ⬇️ #Productivity #Leadership #DeepWork

A rep told me this week: "Marcus, I can't get organized anymore. Every time I plan my day, something urgent pops up and I'm back to firefighting." I get it. It feels like you're always reacting. Never proactive. Here's the problem: Most of what feels urgent isn't actually important. And most reps spend their entire day doing things that don't make them money. Here's how to fix it: #1 Use the Eisenhower Decision Framework Four quadrants: → Urgent + Important = Do it now → Not Urgent + Important = Schedule it → Urgent + Not Important = Delegate or delay it → Not Urgent + Not Important = Delete it Most of what lands in your inbox is urgent but not important. Customer emails. Internal Slack messages. Random meeting requests. If you wait an hour to respond, the deal won't die. But if you constantly interrupt your deep work to respond immediately, you'll never get the important stuff done. #2 Time block your high-value activities Don't use "soft blocks" in your head. Use actual recurring calendar blocks marked as BUSY. For example: Monday & Wednesday, 9-12: Deep work research on accounts Every day, 4:30-5:00: Admin wrap-up (email, CRM updates, plan tomorrow) When those blocks are on your calendar, people can't book over them. And you're forced to protect that time. #3 Batch your admin work Don't let admin bleed into your entire day. Block 30 minutes at the end of each day to knock it all out at once. Check email. Update CRM. Plan tomorrow. Done. #4 Ask: Is this truly urgent or does it just feel urgent? Someone wants to jump on a call right now. Your gut says "I have to take this or I'll lose the deal." But will you actually lose the deal if you push it by two hours? Probably not. Is this more important than the deep work you're doing right now? Probably not. Most "urgent" things can wait. But we've trained ourselves to react immediately to everything. Your time is your most valuable asset as a salesperson. Every hour you spend on low-value work is an hour you're not spending on high-value work. Deep work on your accounts. Prospecting. Moving deals forward. Closing pipeline. That's what makes you money. Everything else is noise. Block your time. Guard it. Say no to things that don't move the needle. Because if you don't control your calendar, your calendar will control you. — Want to see MY time blocks? Check them out here: https://lnkd.in/gbpFye_t

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.