Cluster meetings as much as possible, and make sure to leave large blocks of uninterrupted time open each week.

places where you have influence are streamlined and aligned. You must also get comfortable with eliminating things in your life that are getting in the way of clarity and focus.

“You can have anything you want, but you can’t have everything you want.” That’s opportunity cost in a nutshell.

Future. What would a solution to this problem look like? What would it feel like? What is the ultimate state that would describe that the problem has been solved? Write a few words, then start generating ideas off of them.

This quarterly planning time is also when you want to get any new and intriguing work projects in the mix. Are there things that you’ve wanted to suggest or pursue but haven’t because it’s never a good time? See if there’s any aspect of the idea that you could begin to implement this quarter.

“A growing body of research suggests that we’re most productive when we move between periods of high focus and intermittent rest. Instead, we live in a gray zone, constantly juggling activities but rarely fully engaging in any of them—or fully disengaging from any of them. The consequence is that we settle for a pale version of the possible.”

Are there important principles in your life that are being neglected and need to be revisited? Are there projects that you’ve always dreamed of pursuing but can never find the energy to get moving on? Now is the time to get these on paper and to start analyzing what can be done over the next quarter to initiate them.

Conceptual. What are other problems and corresponding solutions that I know of that are similar to this one?

Developers lock in on the heart of the problem quickly (define), establish their game plan and center their activities around their most crucial priorities (refine), and organize their work so that they’re minimizing distractions and staying on course (cluster). However, unlike the Driver, they are able to occasionally take a few steps back and