☄️One Tax Every Leader Must Evade

For the past 5 years, I’ve juggled responsibilities across product, growth, CS, ops, finance, HR, recruiting, legal, and compliance.

Without a clear focus, hours vanish and days blur together.

And the most important work somehow remains untouched.

Because every interruption imposes a "cognitive tax".

Research shows that returning to your task after an interruption takes ~23 minutes of “mental recovery.”

Now, consider the constant Slack pings, emails, meetings, and admin tasks that the average professional has to deal with on a daily basis. The cognitive tax adds up quickly.

High-output leaders know this "cognitive tax" very well - they don't rely on discipline alone to deal with it.

Instead, they intentionally structure their days to protect mental clarity and focus. Here's how:

Batch similar tasks

Group activities like emails, calls, or meetings into scheduled blocks instead of scattering them.

Your brain thrives on routine; batching gets it quickly into the "zone," preserving mental energy and sharpening focus.

For example, if you are a founder who does sales calls, batch all of your sales calls on 1-2 days per week. Protect other days to make room for deep, strategic work.

Set clear boundaries

Protect your deep work time by proactively blocking time on your calendar.

Silence notifications, set "do not disturb," or log off entirely when you need total focus. And make sure to communicate that to the people around you.

A successful CMO I know set a simple rule for himself: No Slack between 10 AM and 3 PM.

That time range included a block for deep work and for the most important meetings of the week, where he wanted to be fully present. And surprisingly, he managed to get everyone on the team to respect his rule.

This didn’t mean fires or other urgent priorities didn’t make it onto his radar…but they did come with a higher bar.

As you might expect, most of what was previously determined urgent enough to make it to the CMO and break his focus happened far less often.

This system significantly boosted his focus and productivity.

Automate repetitive tasks

Use AI assistants or other software to handle routine things like scheduling, reminders, or follow-ups.

This eliminates minor decisions and frees your mental bandwidth for meaningful, high-impact work.

I use Workmate, an AI-powered Executive Assistant, to handle all my scheduling and calendar coordination. Instead of me spending energy on meeting logistics (back-and-forth scheduling emails, follow-ups, invites, conflicts…the list goes on), my Workmate handles it effortlessly.

This gives me more time and, more importantly, focus, for the things that matter most.

Bottom Line

Protecting your mental bandwidth from excessive context-switching is essential to doing great work.

Design your day-to-day workflow to batch tasks, set firm boundaries, and automate low-value repetitive tasks. These three simple strategies directly boost your productivity and focus.

Until next week,

David Lobo

Head of Growth, Workmate

P.S. Need help with high-leverage productivity? Workmate is your AI executive assistant. It manages your calendar and schedules meetings without the back-and-forth. Join the waitlist here.