You Don’t Need More Time. You Need More Focus.

Ever stare at a wide-open calendar and think, “I’ve got all day!” only to end the day wondering what in the world you actually did?

Let’s break down what you are typically trying to juggle in a single day:

• Sending and answering emails and DMs
• Prepping for and leading client calls
• Delivering services (designing, writing, editing, auditing, etc.)
• Creating content for your own brand (social posts, blogs, videos, etc.)
• Following up on leads or proposals
• Planning upcoming launches or offers
• Managing contractors or team members
• Tech troubleshooting (because something always breaks)
• Learning new platforms/tools/strategies
• Engaging on social media (ahem… algorithm babysitting)
• Updating your website, sales pages, funnels, etc

Each of these sounds small on its own, but stack them together, and suddenly your “free day” evaporates faster than your second (or fourth, don’t judge me) cup of coffee.

Without a system for focus? You’re toast.

Guilty as charged.

Back when I was an online business manager, drowning in client work, strategy meetings, and kid chaos, I had no choice but to focus.

I could knock out an entire client launch strategy plan in the 27 minutes between school drop-off and my first Zoom call.

But now that I’ve stopped all implementation services? With more white space on my calendar than ever before?

I’ve caught myself wasting it.

More time isn’t the fix. It’s often the trap.

Having time requires you to build discipline. And that muscle doesn’t grow because your calendar is chill. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

Because with more time comes more opportunities to get distracted, sidetracked, or deep into a rabbit hole of “maybe I should reorganize my Google Drive.”

(And while that very well may be the case, it’s probably NOT the top priority right now.)

You don’t need more time. You need more focus.

Fun Fact: Our brains aren’t wired to handle endless freedom.

When everything feels flexible, nothing feels urgent. That’s why deadlines work. They create pressure, which triggers action.

With too much time, our brains do this cute thing called task inflation where a simple task expands to fill the time we think we have.

Want to write a blog post? Give yourself 3 hours, and you’ll still be polishing the intro by hour two. Give yourself 30 focused minutes? It’s done and dusted.

White space doesn’t make you productive. It just reveals whether or not you’re focused.

Focus isn’t found in silence or empty blocks on your calendar. It’s built by:

• Setting boundaries (sorry Facebook, you’re evicted from my phone)
• Saying “this 30 minutes is for THIS task, and nothing else”
• Practicing it over and over again

Let’s talk about one method that actually rewires your brain to focus better: The Pomodoro Technique.

The Psychology of Pomodoro & Focus Training

Here’s how it works:

• You set a timer for 25 minutes.
• You work on ONE task. No switching, no tabs, no checking email.
• When the timer rings, you take a 5-minute break.
• After four of these cycles, you take a longer 15–30 minute break.

Sounds simple.
Because it is.

And it works like magic because it plays nice with your brain chemistry.

Why it works:

• It gives your brain a finish line. You’re not committing to an endless work session, you’re just focusing for 25 minutes. That feels doable.
  
• It rewards your brain with micro-breaks, which reduce fatigue and keep dopamine flowing.
  
• It eliminates the lie of multitasking (as much as I hate to admit it, multitasking is a productivity killer disguised as efficiency).

And most importantly: it builds what I call your “focus muscle.”

You wouldn’t go from the couch to a marathon. So why expect 8 hours of monk-level focus out of nowhere?

Your Challenge This Week

1. Block 30 minutes a day to focus on one thing. Set a timer. Go all in.
2. Uninstall or snooze one app that tempts you to waste time. No exceptions.

Start with 1 morning dedicated to using the Pomodoro method. Then two. Then three. Maybe expand it to an entire work day when you really get the hand of it.

Not every day has to be a productivity bootcamp, but you also can’t keep letting yourself off the hook.

Discipline isn’t punishment. It’s a promise to your future self that you’ll show up and get it done even if your brain throws a tantrum.

Here’s some “not bossy, just aggressively helpful” encouragement from yours truly…

Don’t expect perfection.
Expect resistance.
And do it anyway.