"Have you got a sec?" How to focus on deep work when you manage a team

It's not easy, but it's doable. I'm going to show you how

My husband asked me for some work advice over the weekend. Yes, I know, thrilling! To be fair to us, we were waiting around to pick up my daughter from theatre school, there was nothing good to scroll on TikTok and we had already exhausted the limits of our “hi how are you?” chat with the other parents. (IYKYK.)

He was worried about this issue as a manager at work and knew I could help.

So I did.

This is what he asked me:

“As a manager, how can I make sure that I am accessible to my team but still get my own work done?”

He was struggling with what a lot of new managers and leaders do struggle with, which is that you typically want to have an “open door” policy for your team (regardless of whether you actually have an office or not!)

You want to be approachable and accessible, so your team knows that they can ask you questions and ask you for help.

But you also know that you have projects and priorities of your own to be getting on with. Perhaps you’re writing a report or a plan.

You need to be heads down, focused and ideally, without interruptions.

Then it starts…

“Have you got a second?”

“I know you’re on deadline but…”

“Can I just check this with you…”

Before you know it, your precious two hour “deep work” window has vanished into thin air and you haven’t got done what you needed to.

How does it feel? Unsatisfactory is a polite word. Maybe frustrating? One thing’s for sure, you won’t be ending the day in a good place and you’ll have to catch up somehow. That doesn’t feel good for you and it’s also not good for the morale and mood of the team.

So what can you do to protect your own time as a manager, yet still be there for your team?

It’s not impossible! But it is one of the things that managers and aspiring leaders struggle with the most. And it doesn’t have to be that way.

I gave my husband these practical tips and a bit of tough love as well. (He loves it really.) One week on and it’s really helped him. I hope it helps you too…