The average worker gets just 12 minutes on a task before being interrupted, and it takes an average of 25 minutes to recover that focus.
UC Berkeley
In marketing and sales, it seems that distraction is the default. Work doesn’t simply flow through tidy channels; it bombards us. Slack pings demand attention mid-thought, mobile alerts buzz at random intervals, and desktop notifications flash in the corner of the screen like they’re emergencies. Email previews pull our eyes away before we even know if the message is important. And then there are DMs, phone calls, and smart devices chiming in with reminders and alerts.
The result is that our brains are perpetually in triage mode, trying to assess which signal matters most. Another survey revealed that workers check their phones 58 times a day, costing up to 40% of their productive capacity. No wonder a study showed the average office worker is productive for just 2 hours and 23 minutes per day.
It’s possible, however, to reclaim control. With deliberate systems, you can easily double your productive output. Here are five strategies I use to preserve focus and get more done in today’s environment of nonstop interruption.
Table of Contents
Tip 1: Turn Off Instant Access
The first step is to stop treating every notification like a command. I don’t respond to calls, texts, emails, or Slack messages immediately. Instead, I create intentional blocks of time to deal with them. This way, I’m in control of my attention rather than handing it over to the constant digital tap on the shoulder.
You can enforce this with tools already built into your devices. Use Do Not Disturb on your iPhone or Focus mode on Mac/Windows during deep work sessions. In Slack, set your status and silence notifications for an hour or more when you need to stay in flow. It may feel unnatural at first, but people adjust when they realize you’re simply working more effectively.
- Batch responses: Check email and messaging apps at two or three scheduled times a day.
- Set phone boundaries: Calls go to voicemail until you’re ready.
- Use built-in tools: Activate Do Not Disturb or Focus modes to shut down interruptions.
Approximate savings: 1 hour daily
Tip 2: Skip the Full Playback
Voicemails, lengthy Slack threads, and endless email chains consume valuable time. My approach is to cut straight to the essentials: who reached out, what’s urgent, and what the next step should be. If I know I’ll have to call or reply anyway, there’s little point in listening or reading every word.
With email and messaging platforms, I skim for key details and then respond directly. For voicemail, I don’t sit through the entire message—if I know the caller, I return their call immediately. This practice might feel abrupt, but it eliminates unnecessary consumption and gets me to the real work faster.
- Scan first: Look for the sender, urgency, and action required.
- Skip redundancy: Don’t consume long messages if a direct reply is inevitable.
- Train your circle: Ask colleagues to be concise—clear subject lines, specific requests, and urgency indicators help.
- Call: You’d be amazed at how much clarity you achieve in a 5-minute phone call rather than 30 minutes of back and forth in messages. Just call!
Approximate savings: 30 minutes daily
Tip 3: Repurpose Idle Time with No-Tech Walking
Instead of filling downtime with more screens, I use it for a no-technology walk. Even ten to twenty minutes outdoors resets my focus and helps me prioritize the rest of the day. Walking is not idle—it’s an active thinking space. Without a phone or earbuds, my brain naturally sorts through ideas and organizes tasks.
Research on walking and cognition shows that it can improve creativity and problem-solving. And in today’s sedentary knowledge work, moving is not just restorative—it’s necessary. Humans were built to work beyond the keyboard, and a deliberate walk helps anchor our attention in the physical world again.
- Schedule it: Block a daily walk on your calendar, ideally early or mid-day.
- Go screen-free: Leave your phone behind or at least on silent.
- Prioritize thinking: Use the walk to reflect, sort your tasks, or reframe challenges.
Approximate benefit: mental clarity, renewed focus, prioritization.
Tip 4: Learn to Say No!
One of the hardest skills to master in today’s workplace isn’t learning a new tool or keeping up with technology—it’s learning to say no. Meetings often remain some of the biggest drains on productivity, but the larger issue is how easily we agree to requests, projects, and obligations that don’t align with our priorities.
Humans are wired to seek belonging. We want to be liked, to be seen as helpful, to avoid disappointing others. But saying yes to everything ultimately harms us—especially professionally. When we overcommit, we dilute our attention, weaken our performance, and risk failing at the things that matter most.
The key is to recognize your goals, prioritize your tasks, and permit yourself to decline what doesn’t serve them. If a meeting lacks a clear agenda, a timeline, or defined outcomes, don’t attend. If a new project request conflicts with more important commitments, inform your manager, client, or team about your current workload and request guidance on which priority to adjust. More often than not, they’ll either agree that the request can wait or delegate it to someone else.
It’s not about being difficult—it’s about being deliberate. By learning to say no, you create the space to say yes to the work that matters.
- Clarify priorities: Be transparent about what’s on your plate and why it comes first.
- Require agendas: Meetings without purpose don’t deserve your time.
- Time-box commitments: Limit discussions to focused, short bursts rather than sprawling hours.
- Delegate when possible: If you’re not the right person, let someone else own it.
- Protect deep work: Block time on your calendar where no requests can intrude.
Approximate savings: 2 hours daily
Tip 5: Write and Share Action Plans
Ambiguity is one of the biggest thieves of productivity. That’s why I create action plans for every significant project or collaboration. These plans outline exactly who is responsible, what the deliverable is, and when it’s due. Then, I share the plan with the team to avoid any confusion.
This practice prevents endless clarification emails and keeps everyone accountable. It’s also a great way to ensure that follow-ups happen in context rather than in random, distracting bursts later.
- Who: Who owns the task or deliverable.
- What: What specifically needs to be delivered.
- When: The completion date and time.
- Roadblocks: Understand what’s in the way.
Approximate savings: 30 minutes daily
Working From Home vs. the Office
The environment matters. Research shows remote workers experience about 18% fewer interruptions than office workers. But both environments come with unique challenges.
- Work from home: Separate your workspace from the rest of your house. Use a dedicated room if possible, and keep distractions like the TV, Ring camera alerts, or household chores outside your work zone. Use Focus modes on your devices to minimize overlap between personal and professional life.
- Office: Open floor plans are notorious for noise and interruptions. Protect your focus with noise-canceling headphones, clear status indicators, and by carving out do not disturb blocks on your calendar.
Both environments benefit from the same principle: guard your focus intentionally.
The Payoff of Protecting Your Focus
These strategies—turning off instant access, skipping the full playback, reclaiming time with no-tech walks, being ruthless with meetings, and sharing clear action plans—might look small individually. But combined, they radically change your ability to produce meaningful work.
In an age where interruptions are constant, the ability to protect and direct your attention is a competitive advantage. By time-blocking, enforcing device boundaries, and creating intentional rhythms in your day, you can reclaim hours of lost productivity and turn them into meaningful, valuable work.
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