Hi Reader,
Kevin and I recently started rewatching a show we'd seen years ago. A few episodes in, I realized there were entire episodes I didn't remember at all.
At first I figured it had just been too long. Then I realized something else. I probably wasn't really watching the first time.
I’ve developed a habit of filling every empty moment. Waiting in line means checking LinkedIn or email. Driving means a podcast. Waiting for something to cook means pulling out a book.
I always carry a notebook because ideas show up when I least expect them, and honestly, the notebook isn't the problem. It's a good system that lets me capture ideas without constantly switching tasks.
The problem is what came after. Somewhere along the way, I started treating every empty moment like it needed a purpose.
The Weekly Edge
Business owners spend a lot of time protecting their calendars. Very little time protecting their attention.
Here's the distinction I didn't used to make. A protected calendar just means the time is blocked off. Protected attention means you're actually present for whatever's happening in that block, instead of half in it while some other tab in your brain stays open.
Good strategy requires uninterrupted thinking. Your highest-value work rarely happens while you're reacting. It happens when you stay with one problem long enough to actually think clearly. But that only works if the moment isn't already split three ways.
The filter I’ve started using is simple: does this moment need my active attention, or am I filling it out of habit?
A strategy problem may deserve my full focus.
Waiting for coffee to brew probably doesn’t.
A client message may need a thoughtful response.
It usually doesn’t need one the second it arrives.
Here's the quiet realization. I wasn’t really protecting my time. I was making sure there was never a moment when my brain wasn’t occupied. One of your greatest business assets isn’t simply your time. It’s your ability to give your full attention to the right thing long enough for good thinking to happen.
One Small Move
Pick one small empty moment this week, a commute, a walk, waiting for something to cook, and let it stay empty. No podcast, no notification check, no notebook.
You're not trying to be productive with it. You're practicing the opposite: proving to yourself that a moment doesn't need a purpose to be worth having.
Notice what your mind does when you stop immediately feeding it more input. You may find that the thought you actually need has room to surface.
What I’m Paying Attention To
A speaker at a recent Chamber First Friday Breakfast asked the room a simple question: what are your non-negotiables?
It wasn't a new idea to me. I've been thinking about some version of it for years. But the wording made me pause.
It tied right back to what I wrote about redefining success last month. Success was never about building the biggest business possible. For me it's freedom, time with Kevin and family, working with clients I genuinely enjoy, and building a business that supports the life I want instead of asking my life to constantly support the business.
I've realized those aren't just values. They're my non-negotiables.
Here's the part I keep coming back to: if I don't decide ahead of time what's truly non-negotiable, my attention gets negotiated away a little at a time.
It rarely happens through one big decision. It's usually the accumulation of dozens of small ones.
- One more email.
- One more notification.
- One more meeting.
- One more "yes."
Before long, I've drifted away from the very life I was trying to build.
That's why I don't think protecting our attention is just about productivity. It's about protecting the things we've already decided matter most.
Capacity isn't only about having more time. It's about intentionally directing your attention toward what matters most. A business that supports your life won't happen by accident. It gets built one intentional decision at a time.
This is something I work through with clients constantly, helping them tell the difference between a moment that needs their input and one that's just asking for it out of habit.
What's one thing in your life or business that's truly non-negotiable? Hit reply, I'd love to hear it.
Talk soon,
Lucy
P.S. If you're curious what we're rewatching, it's Angel. Turns out a show about a vampire with a soul trying to redeem himself one case at a time hits different after a decade of running my own business. Some weeks I relate to that a little too much.
P.P.S. If protecting attention is a theme that's landing for you, Wednesdays are for The AI Edge, where I talk about using AI without losing the human thinking part. Worth a look if you're not already getting it. Click HERE to start
