The popular “productivity hack” that is destroying your business

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Recently I attended a conference with a business owner who boasted about his “flawless productivity system.” 

Three monitors. Five chat apps. Email notifications on loud. Calendar alerts. Phone buzzing. Slack pinging… (you get the picture.)

“I can respond to anything within 60 seconds,” he proudly beamed.

I couldn’t stop myself before asking him a simple question, “But should you?”

He looked at me like I had just suggested he start commuting by unicycle. 

The entire experience reminded me of another top marketing agency owner I know. She was known in the industry for lightning-fast response times and around-the-clock availability. 

Her business was “crushing it” by all the standard metrics:

• 8-figure revenue

• 26 employees

• Industry accolades

• Speaking invitations

But she was struggling.

Despite working 70+ hours weekly, she couldn’t remember the last time she completed a truly important project. Her flagship client relationships were suffering. And most concerning: she hadn’t taken a real vacation in 3 years. In fact, she’d barely taken a weekend off. 

“I’m always busy, but I never feel productive.” She lamented.

We looked into what she was really prioritizing, and here’s what the data revealed: She was spending 83% of her working hours reacting to other people’s priorities.

Every notification was an invitation to abandon her current task. Every “quick question!” derailed her limited focus. Every urgent email reset her own priorities. 

She wasn’t running her business. Her inbox was. Her notifications were.

I posed a simple experiment: What would happen if she turned off all notifications for just 2 hours a day?

Skeptical and anxious, but willing - she agreed to try it for a week. The rules were set:

1. No email on her phone during these critical focus-work hours

2. All notifications silenced.

3. The hours could be split into blocks, but once a block was started, notifications and alerts couldn’t be accessed until it was over. 

4. She would implement a simple automated message explaining her new schedule.

The results were astounding. 

After 90 days of gradually expanding these “notification-free” periods, her client satisfaction increased by 22%, team productivity overall was boosted, and her working hours reduced to 45/week.

She had a life again. 

But here’s the most interesting part: Not a single client complained about the slower response time. In fact, they reported feeling better served. 

Why? Because the responses they were given were fully present and thoughtful solutions, instead of rushed reactions. 

This isn’t just about productivity - it’s about protecting your ability to create value.

Think about it… your most valuable work - the strategic planning, creative problem-solving, relationship building… requires uninterrupted focus. 

Every notification steals a small piece of that focus. 

Every context switch costs you 23 minutes of recovery time. (from a University of California study)

Every interruption increases your error rate by 50% (according to research done at Microsoft)

We’ve been sold the equation that “always available” = “highly responsible.”

Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. 

Being always available means never being fully present. 

So I challenge you to try this experiment.

For the next 24 hours:

1. Turn off all notifications

2. Schedule time to check your email/slack/messages

3. Block 2-4 hours for your most important work

4. Track what you accomplish

I bet you’ll be shocked by how much you get done when you’re not playing digital whack-a-mole with notifications. 

Remember: your focus is your most valuable business asset. Protect it accordingly.

Want to take this further? Here's a question that changes everything:

"What would your business look like if you protected your focus as fiercely as you protect your money?"

Hit reply and let me know. I read every response, and I'll share some additional focus protection strategies that have proven successful for protecting and maximizing productive time.

Here’s to your success and financial certainty.

Warm regards,

Dan Nicholson

Founder, Nth Degree CPAs, CertaintyU, (UN)Conventional Wealth

P.S. If you're ready to build a business that runs on your terms instead of your inbox's, reply to this email and I'll send you a free PDF copy of "The Solvable Problem®". It's packed with frameworks to help you design a business that serves your life, not the other way around.

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