Engineering leaders regain deep focus by eliminating multitasking, setting clear limits, and using simple routines like single-task windows and structured breaks.
Engineers lose focus when they treat their work like a CPU that constantly switches contexts. The author describes how juggling multiple monitors, chat, and real-time charts creates a mental overhead similar to saving registers on every context switch. He shows that moving to a single fullscreen window, hiding notifications, and signalling availability with a Slack status can keep the brain in one context and dramatically improve concentration.
The piece offers concrete habits: block focus time in the calendar, mute all alerts, and check messages only at set intervals. It advises saying no to excess projects, adding slack to plans, and using timeboxing or Pomodoro sprints to create guilt-free rest. Capturing stray ideas in an "inbox" notebook prevents mental clutter, while clear outcomes and written goals keep work directed.
These individual tactics scale to the team level. Managers can treat multitasking as excessive work-in-progress, enforce WIP limits, add planning slack, make all work visible, and schedule regular breaks. By doing so teams boost performance, reduce burnout, and make decision-making sharper.
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