People talk a lot about time management. Blocking calendars, optimising schedules, squeezing more into each hour. But I have been thinking more in terms of headspace lately.
I personally find it strange when someone says they are working on several things at once. It may sound impressive to most others. To me, it means their headspace is split.
When your headspace is split, it’s hard to be great at anything.
Ideas need space to form, marinate, and evolve. That’s impossible when your mind is constantly switching tabs.
I don’t think managing headspace is like managing time. You can’t schedule it or optimise it.
I think managing headspace is more about protecting emptiness, i.e., taking on less so your mind has room for the one thing that matters most.
The hardest part, in my opinion, is having the discipline to say no. It is extremely tempting to say yes to the shiny new opportunity or the supposedly harmless distraction.
But every “yes” takes a little piece of your headspace away. So, it’s important to be absolutely stingy with what you commit your headspace to.
I do see this level of focus and headspace-awareness in high performers generally.
Because it only makes sense for clarity and creativity to show up when your head actually has the space for it.
Sindhu Mohan 