In a practice full of patient demands, ringing phones and endless admin, deep, meaningful work can feel out of reach – but it doesn’t have to be. Whether you are mapping out your clinic's long-term business strategy, researching advanced cleaning techniques or refining patient communication workflows, deep work helps you grow and succeed.
To master that level of focus and stop drowning in distractions, these six works are the ones you can’t afford to miss.
Caught in the swamp of procrastination? Eat that Frog!
"We all have our frogs - important tasks that we’ve put off for whatever reason. The key to success is to eat your frogs quickly, completely and with focused determination."
– Brian Tracy
In 1895, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto realised that 20% of people made 80% of the money, while 80% of the people had little money. He soon discovered that this ratio applied to all economic activity. The top 20% of your activities will generate 80% of your profits. Twenty percent of your customers will account for 80% of your sales.
This pervasive fact is now known as Pareto’s Rule. The rule means that if you have a to-do list of 10 items, two of those items will generate 80% of the return you get from your entire list. Now, when you look at your list, you will be tempted, of course, to clear up a few small things first so you can check them off and have a sense of accomplishment. However, those items may not be significant to your economic activity. And that’s a problem.
Deep work is what will shift the needle. As Brian Tracy, author of the time management classic, Eat that Frog, explains:
“The ability to concentrate single-mindedly on your most important task, to do it well and to finish it completely, is the key to great success.”
Find your “ONE Thing”
And everything else will fall into place. In their book, The ONE Thing, Gary Keller and Jay Papasan urge you to ask yourself the following question:
“What is the one thing I can do such that, by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”
This is a simple question, but not an easy one. It provides both an overview and a laser focus on what you must do today to achieve your one thing. The question propels you to go beyond simple tasks on your to-do list and directs you to what is most important, that “first domino” that will make everything else fall into place.
Asking, “What’s my one thing?” defines your “big one thing” by prompting you to craft a conceptual path for your career, your business and your personal life.
Asking, “What’s my one thing right now?” reveals the “small one thing” that drives your daily activities.
This puts your top priority at the centre of your focus and leads you to a productive workday and a properly focused home life.
“The most productive people start with purpose and use it like a compass. They allow purpose to be the guiding force in determining the priority that drives their actions.”
– Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
Once you’ve identified the tasks that will benefit most from deep work, the next step is ensuring you have the right setting and a strategy to fit deep work into your day. Let’s explore how to do that.
Pardon the Interruptions
Distractions are everywhere in a dental practice – urgent patient requests, team questions, appointment notifications and administrative demands. While some are unavoidable, many can be managed.
Technology has revolutionised dental practices, streamlining patient management and improving efficiency. However, without careful selection and implementation, digital tools can easily become distractions rather than aids to productivity. As attention spans continue to decline, the habit of distraction grows.
As Gloria Mark, a pioneer in the emerging field of interruption science, explains in the podcast episode, “Pardon the Interruptions,” automated notifications constitute only about half the interruptions people experience.
The other half are self-interruptions: Data suggest that people – habituated to frequent interruptions – discontinue their workflow randomly even when external interruptions are absent. Reducing interruptions, thus, is only half the solution; the other half lies in retraining your brain to maintain sustained focus.
“When our attention breaks so chronically and so pervasively, we’re not even noticing the full toll that it takes on us.”
– Tristan Harris
Control your inbox before it controls you
In his article, Your Email Does Not Constitute My Emergency, organisational psychologist Adam Grant explores the value of setting boundaries regarding your relationship with your inbox. Most emails aren’t truly urgent, and responding instantly shouldn’t be the default.
Instead of feeling guilty for a delayed reply, focus on crafting thoughtful, high-quality responses. Limit email-checking to three to four times a day and set aside time slots in your calendar for checking your inbox. Clarify expectations by adding your email response time to your email signature.
Singletasking over Multitasking
Multitasking is a deeply ingrained component of modern culture. Originally a computer term, multitasking now refers to the “handling of more than one task at the same time by a single person.”
As Devora Zack explains in Singletasking, your brain in fact can’t handle two challenging tasks simultaneously. Having multiple information streams from two focus-demanding tasks competing for the prefrontal cortex overworks and overwhelms the brain.
According to Dr Earl Miller of MIT, the human brain isn't capable of truly focusing on two tasks at once. Instead, it rapidly switches between them, which leads to what he calls “interference between the two tasks.” This interference reduces efficiency, increases errors and makes it harder to concentrate on either task effectively.
The process that people mistakenly refer to as multitasking is actually “task-switching” – that is, “moving rapidly and ineffectively among tasks.” Task-switching has decidedly negative effects on the brain, as the prefrontal cortex reduces in size due to the routine mental overload of multitasking.
Less brain matter results in cognitive impairment and a decreased ability to think and reason clearly. In other words, multitasking undermines your ability to engage in deep work!
“Multitasking weakens our ability to concentrate. We are collectively losing the ability to sustain prolonged attention.”
– Devora Zack
Your ability to engage in deep work is like a muscle: It can be trained. If maintaining prolonged focus is a challenge for you, start small. The length of your deep work session should be challenging but not feel like an open-ended slog.
Below is a series of recommendations for creating and sustaining a deep work habit.
1. Put Deep Work in Your Weekly Schedule
As Michael Hyatt recommends in Free to Focus, planning your “Ideal Week” can help you dedicate uninterrupted time to your priority task, thereby increasing your productivity and creativity. Identify the 20% of tasks that generate 80% of your results. Prioritise these over low-impact busywork.
For managers, this may mean dedicating time to strategic planning, staff development and process improvements. For employees, it may mean allocating time for professional reading, skill-building or optimising workflows. Schedule regular time blocks dedicated for deep work on your priority task, and protect these timeslots fiercely!
“You can either live on purpose, according to a plan you’ve set. Or you can live by accident, responding to the demands of others.”
– Michael Hyatt
2. Optimise Your Setting
Put yourself up for success by creating an optimal work environment:
- Designate a quiet area for uninterrupted work.
- Let colleagues know that you’re unavailable. Close your door or post a note when you need uninterrupted time.
- Keep all necessary materials within reach to minimise disruptions.
- Minimise digital noise by turning off non-essential notifications. Set devices to “Do Not Disturb.”
- Use website blockers to eliminate online distractions.
3. Support Your Focus
To make deep work a consistent habit, establish a ritual that supports focus. You will want to support your brain to function optimally so you can focus all your mental energy on your core task:
- Set a time limit and “clock in.”
- Stay hydrated and keep healthy snacks nearby.
- Take short, periodic breaks to stretch or walk.
- Random thoughts can derail your focus. Instead of letting them take over, write them down in a “mental parking lot” for later review.
- Track progress with measurable goals, such as word count or tasks completed.
By consistently applying these strategies, you’ll build a deep work habit that enhances productivity and reduces stress. To achieve lasting success, start small, stay consistent and watch the results unfold. How will you integrate deep work into your dental practice?
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