How to Declutter Your Schedule to Make Space for Deep Work

As office reopening plans circulate through email inboxes, a key question arises: What will work schedules look like now?

A return to the office likely means a return to commuting. With the average one-way commute in the United States lasting nearly 30 minutes, there’s a renewed focus on how professionals spend their time during the workweek.

Here are four strategies to organize your schedule so you can maximize the time you spend in a dedicated office space.

1. Break Your Day into Blocks of Dedicated Work

According to a study conducted by Florida State, the best performers (athletes, artists, musicians) typically practice in uninterrupted sessions that last no more than 90 minutes. You can adopt this model for your own professional performance to accomplish deep work.

It’s important that you make sure your deep work sessions are uninterrupted – work in an environment that fosters this level of focus. You’ll likely need to find a quiet, private space to accomplish deep work. Ideally, this space should also have a door that locks to minimize drop-in guests. 

Finding space for deep work is just as important as making space for deep work. Breaking your day into blocks can help you make the most out of the hours you have in the office. This practice promotes organization and enables you to focus on certain tasks while eliminating distractions. 

Enabling focus on certain tasks is tremendously important for parents working in a hybrid model. For example, if you know you’ll be working at home Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you can count on extra distractions in the morning and after 3:00 PM, when your children get home from school. 

2. Start Your Day Strong with High Priority Tasks

It’s been shown that humans have more focus at the beginning of the day. Use this increased focus at the beginning of the day to tackle deep work.

Starting the day with high-priority tasks also establishes momentum. Rather than putting off a task and letting it loom over you, prioritizing crucial tasks enables you to use that success to drive the rest of your day forward. 

If you’re working in a hybrid environment, one way to reinforce the way you prioritize your time is by consistently booking meeting rooms for afternoon engagements and preserving your mornings for high-priority tasks. This type of simple routine can make a big difference when it comes to your productivity. 

3. Focus on Single-Tasking, Not Multitasking

There’s an evolutionary reason our minds wander. It can even lead to increased creativity. While creativity is important, when scheduling your day, make sure you’re committing to one task at a time. 

Committing to single-tasking is important because multitasking can have an adverse effect both on your work and on your cognitive health. In fact, multitasking has been linked to lower levels of productivity, inefficiency, and can even lead to decreased memory function.

These outcomes are the opposite of what motivates us to go into the office in the first place. 

To help you switch to single-track work, we find it helps to think of your time in the office like time in a day spa for professionals. It has all the amenities and ambiance you need to stay calm, cool, and focused on your objectives for the day.

4. Integrate Breaks to Make the Most Out of Your Time in a Dedicated Office Space

Forty-seven percent of waking hours are spent thinking about what isn’t going on. Your mind will take needed breaks. So, schedule them. Maximizing productivity isn’t about working tirelessly, it’s about working optimally.  

This is why certain practices, like the Pomodoro Technique, have risen in popularity in recent years. These practices prioritize breaks following work periods. Specifically, the Pomodoro Technique is marked by 25 minutes of work and a short break afterward (usually around five minutes). The reasoning behind integrating breaks after dedicated work periods? More sustained focus.

Another important element to sustaining focus is finding a space where you can actually take breaks. Before pausing work, ask yourself: Am I capable of taking a break here? If not, this may mean you should step into a common area or take a walk in a nearby park. 

Making Time for Deep Work Is about Optimizing, Not Stuffing, Your Schedule

Returning to the office after working remotely is a big transition. Professionals, therefore, need to be mindful of their limits and routines. Working in an office is different than working from home. This is why dedicating blocks of time to a single task may feel more challenging in an office with your coworkers, especially for those who don’t have a private office space to themselves.

Remember, finding a space where you can engage in deep work is just as important as finding the time to engage in deep work. Adjustments to an in-person or hybrid model take time. Grant yourself permission to even take extra breaks, as needed.

If you’d like to check out your local Firmspace and see if it might meet your team’s needs, book a tour today.