Warren Buffett famously spends 80 percent of his working day reading or thinking, a luxury afforded by a calendar that remains largely blank. In 2017, Bill Gates recalled looking at Buffett’s personal diary and finding days where nothing was scheduled, a stark contrast to the minute-by-minute orchestration of most Fortune 500 executives. This wasn't a sign of laziness or retirement, but rather a calculated defense of the most valuable asset in the global economy. Focus is a finite resource.

The average knowledge worker now switches between different tasks every three minutes and five seconds. According to research from the University of California, Irvine, it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the original task after an interruption. When you say "yes" to a quick coffee, a speculative Zoom call, or a "low-stakes" committee, you aren't just losing 30 minutes. You are fracturing your cognitive capacity for the entire afternoon.