Use Focus Blocks to Tackle Long-Term Goals and Increase Productivity

When you sit down to work, how much time do you really spend on deep, intentional work, and how much are you spending on distracting “busywork” like catching up on emails or responding to Slack messages?

Cal Newport, a computer science professor at Georgetown University, has dedicated himself to exploring the concept of deep work in our increasingly distracted digital age. In his book "Deep Work," Newport highlights a concerning trend revealed by a 2012 McKinsey study: knowledge workers spend over 60% of their workweek on electronic communication and internet searches, and nearly 30% of their time is consumed by reading and responding to emails.

That’s a lot of time focusing on emails and browsing. And it doesn’t take long for those quick breaks to become longer periods of browsing social media, sending messages, and switching back and forth between various tasks. These demands, notifications, or external pressures drain our willpower to focus. By the time we are ready to work on our long-term goals, we are exhausted!

Qeap is a 13-week program designed to help you accomplish a year's worth of work in just 13 weeks. At the heart of this productivity boost lies a powerful technique: focus blocks. Focus blocks are short, consistent blocks of time you dedicate to meaningful action on tackling your goals. Keep reading this blog to learn more about how to implement focus blocks in your life.

What’s Holding You Back from Achieving Your Goals?

Is there something on your mental to-do list that you’ve been wanting to get done for a while, but just never got around to it? People put off working on lofty goals and actions for several other reasons:

Lack of Urgency or No Timeline: Lofty goals usually don’t come with tight deadlines, unlike smaller, urgent tasks. Without a clear timeline, it’s easier to delay progress. 

Fear of Failure: Big, meaningful goals carry a sense of weight and importance. People fear they might fail or not live up to their expectations, so they avoid starting. 

Overwhelm: Lofty goals can feel too big and vague. How do you even begin writing a book? Or creating value? The answers require deeper thought, planning, and focus to define a clear path forward. Many people avoid this initial decision-making process, sticking to tasks that are easier to tackle. 

Instant Gratification: Smaller, easier tasks provide quick wins and a sense of accomplishment. People naturally gravitate toward what gives them immediate satisfaction rather than what requires sustained effort. 

Distractions and Busy Work: Research published in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that people often prioritize tasks with shorter deadlines—even when tasks with longer timelines are just as easy and offer greater rewards. It’s a common trap: reacting to urgency instead of focusing on impact. In Qeap, we call this mistaking motion for progress. 

Why Focus Blocks Help You Achieve Long-Term Goals

Long-term goals often lack immediate gratification, making it easy to prioritize smaller, less important tasks. Focus blocks combat this tendency by providing structure and intentionality to your work on these larger objectives, which might take several months, a year, or multiple years to complete. They help you prioritize important, but often neglected tasks and maintain momentum on long-term projects.

Maybe you want to work on a long-term strategy for your team or create disproportionate value for your company. You may wish to check writing a book off your bucket list. Perhaps you’d like to learn computer programming or create a new revenue stream for you and your family.

If your goal has a clear “finish line,” it’s unlikely you will feel the “win” of achieving these goals for one, two, or even five years. If reaching your goal is more vague, like creating value or improving a vital skill, that accomplished feeling may never truly hit you. 

This is one of the reasons why we so often prioritize smaller, less important tasks over larger, more lofty goals. This is also why we must be intentional when focusing on these goals. 

Replacing distractions, busy work, and “shallow work” with focus blocks may be the only way to log a significant number of hours on longer goals.

If you want to focus on long-term goals and reduce distractions from short-term busy work, you’ll have to, well, focus! We recommend a focus block that is 90 minutes. We’ll get into how exactly to do that later. Let’s first talk about why focus blocks work!

How to Set a Goal for Your Focus Blocks

Focus blocks are an intentional way to structure your time for deep work. They are most effective when they are intentional. Otherwise, you may spend half of your 90 minutes figuring out how to spend your 90 minutes! Before you set a focus block on a 90-minute timer, determine what you aim to accomplish. 

Deep work can significantly aid you as you study new information, tackle high-impact tasks, or pursue creative endeavors. Choose which of these goals you want to achieve as you set your next focus block. 

Learn New Information and Retention 

Information is held in our brains’ “working memory” before it is stored in long-term memory. Working memory is limited; we can only hold a few pieces of information at one time. If we are distracted by notifications, headlines, and other information while we are studying or learning new things, the more important information is less likely to stay in our working memory or make it into our long-term memory. If you want to hold onto new and important information, you should consume this information in a more focused state. 

In Cal Newport’s Deep Work, he illustrates the connection between memory, learning, and focus by interviewing memory champions on how they developed their skills. From his interviews, he concludes that improving one’s general ability to concentrate (in this case, through memory training) “can then be fruitfully applied to any task demanding deep work.”

Tackle High-Impact Tasks

Starting in the 1980s, Bill Gates carved out week-long focus blocks, or “Think Weeks,” where he would read, write, and think distraction-free in a lakeside cabin. Gates wrote the “Internet Tidal Wave” memo during one of these weeks in 1995, which led to the launch of Internet Explorer. If you do not have a full week to set aside your responsibilities, you can condense a “think week” into “think blocks” or other scheduled events. What’s important is your intention: to read, think, strategize, or write without any distractions. 

Creative Endeavors 

Creativity is more than just painting a picture or writing a poem. The more you practice creativity, the easier it will be to investigate and find solutions to problems. This can help you in your professional and personal life. Spending 90 minutes on a creative project will help you look at the world with a more creative eye. 

Preparing and Executing a 90-Minute Focus Block

Great preparation leads to better execution. This is how you can get the most out of your 90-minute focus blocks.

Identify Your Goal

Make sure you are as clear as possible about what you want to accomplish during your focus block. Before you start any focus block, ask yourself, “What’s the one action or task I can do in the next 90-minute focus block to move closer to my goal?” Write your answer down on a piece of paper or Bias for Action card. Be specific. Instead of saying, “Work on the report,” say: “Draft the introduction and outline three key points.”

Create a Distraction-Free Zone

Turn off notifications, close unnecessary tabs, and inform colleagues and/or family that you’re unavailable during this time. Ensure you have everything you need—documents, tools, or snacks—before starting. This minimizes interruptions. Be sure to remember your 90-minute timer. 

Schedule Strategically and Start Strong 

Plan focus blocks during your peak energy hours. For most people, this is in the morning.

Take a few deep breaths or practice mindfulness for one minute before you set your focus timer. This will get you in the right headspace to focus on your task. 

Stick to One Task

Multitasking not only reduces efficiency and the quality of your work but also contributes to stress. On the Speaking of Psychology podcast, Gloria Mark discussed the correlation between switching between various tasks and stress. Every time we switch our attention to another task, our brains have to take time to switch our focus to the new task at hand. If we go back and forth over the course of a few minutes, more and more of that time is spent switching our focus back rather than completing the task at hand.  

If you feel the urge to check an email or respond to a notification, fight it. This can feel hard at first and that’s okay. Over time, as you continue to use focus blocks to increase your productivity, it will be easier to avoid distractions and enter a state of “flow,” where time goes by and work gets done more easily. 

Ready to master your 90-minute focus block and achieve peak productivity? Order your Bias for Action Timer today and take control of your time, tasks, and success!

Improving Your Focus Blocks 

Attention spans can shorten over time if you are not intentional about how long you focus on one task. This means that, with a consistent focus block practice, attention spans can also increase. With patience and hard work, you can increase your concentration and get more out of your focus blocks. 

Practice, Practice, Practice

Developing an ability to focus does not happen overnight. If you find yourself getting distracted, do not be discouraged. Take a breath, correct course, and keep going. To make the most of your Qeaps, 90-minute focus blocks should become a regular habit. 

Set Regular Goals 

At the beginning of each week, set a goal for how often you want to complete a focus block each week. If you are using Bias for Action cards, you could list three or four 90-minute focus blocks as some of your Actions for the week. Every time you complete a focus block, your Action Score (or AScore) will improve.

Work Focus Blocks into Your Existing Routine

B.J. Fogg, founder and director of the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University, knows a lot about creating new habits. In his book, Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything, he suggests linking habits to an existing part of your routine. If you know you walk the dog at the same time every day, that is a habit already ingrained in your routine – what Fogg calls an anchor. In his book, he writes: “If there is a habit you want, find the right Anchor within your current routine to serve as your prompt, your reminder.” If you are working on exercising more, you can use walking the dog as an anchor to get a short 10-minute walk in.

As you go over your schedule, look for anchors where you can tie your focus blocks. Do you have 90 minutes for a focus block after your lunch break? After you get home from taking the kids to school? What about after a morning run? If you have already worked something into your routine, see if you can continue your routine with a focus block. 

Reward Yourself 

Choose a reward to give yourself immediately after you complete your focus block. This will help your mind associate focus blocks with good feelings. The reward does not have to be big: even the joy of crossing a task of your to-do list may be enough motivation to get you back to your desk for your next focus block. 

Detach from Focus After the Timer Rings 

Once you are done work for the day, walk away. Unclear boundaries between work and personal life create psychological strain and stress, reducing your ability to “reset” and restore your focus for your next day’s work. Just like athletes need time to rest and recover to be able to perform at their best, so, too, do we need to disconnect from work to recharge for the next day. If you’re done working for the day but still feel the need to check your work email, or crack open your work laptop after dinner, you are depriving yourself of downtime that could boost your productivity during your working hours. Not having boundaries around work hours can also lead to burnout over time.

Get A Good Night’s Sleep 

Staying up late at night to work on a project might not be as productive as you think. Focus requires more than willpower or a timer—it requires you to show up well-rested and healthy. If you want to improve your ability to complete focus blocks, take care of yourself and your health. Sleep deprivation reduces a person’s ability to maintain sustained attention or transfer information from working memory to long-term memory. 

Hold Yourself Accountable with Qeap 

Setting focus blocks is just one way to hold yourself accountable and achieve your goals. If you want to make significant improvements in your life, you will have to consistently show up for yourself. Reaching big goals can often take months or years and, depending on your specific goal, may not be associated with a true feeling of accomplishment. 

If you want to condense a year’s worth of accomplishment into three months, consider tracking your goals and actions with Qeap, a 13-week program designed to help you plan, execute, and reflect to achieve more, faster. Get started today.