Protect a Deep Work Block Every Day

Before you open email, before you check messages, before you respond to anything: protect a block of time — ideally 90 minutes to two hours — for your most cognitively demanding work. Schedule it as you would an important meeting, at the same time each day. Research on circadian rhythms and prefrontal cortex function suggests that for most people, the first two to four hours after waking represent peak executive capacity. This is the window to protect most aggressively. Everything else — email, meetings, administrative tasks — should be pushed to the afternoon wherever possible.

Your Attention Isn't Broken

It's being harvested. Here's the neuroscience of what's actually happening — and the architecture that fixes it.

Dr. Judy Ho

May 20, 2026