By Patricia Koopersmith, Rockwood Company Founder and CEO

Conscious thinking (otherwise known as deep thinking) involves complex biological interactions within the brain. Some mental tasks such as generating ideas, prioritizing, problem-solving, and decision-making consume disproportionate resources within the region of the brain called the prefrontal cortex. These resources are limited and require recharging time when overused.

When we use our prefrontal cortex brain power in sequential strategic meetings we have diminished mental resources to employ complex thinking for the next activity. For example, if you are in a four-hour meeting to dissect a complex problem, your prefrontal cortex will likely be low on energy by the end of the discussion. Therefore, it will be counterproductive to schedule any deep-thinking activities (such as prioritizing or decision-making) for the rest of the day.

So how can you maximize your deep-thinking time throughout the workday? Rockwood has identified several key techniques to optimize prefrontal cortex energy, including:

• Complete hard tasks first. Schedule the most attention-rich tasks (e.g., prioritizing) for the morning, when your mind is fresh and alert.

• Alternate complex and routine tasks. Schedule blocks of time for different modes of thinking to give your prefrontal cortex a rest so it can recharge throughout the day. Arrange your schedule to alternate between deep-thinking tasks and more routine tasks to recharge your prefrontal cortex.

• Avoid multitasking. Finish a task before moving to the next task. If accuracy is important, the only way to do two mental tasks quickly is to do one of them at a time. Switching between tasks uses significant mental energy and leads to higher instances of errors.

• Eliminate distractions. When you are going to conduct activities requiring deep thinking, eliminate distractions by silencing phone chimes/rings and putting a sign on the door to avoid disruptions from colleagues.

Many techniques are available to help you maximize the use of the prefrontal cortex and make your deep-thinking time valuable and effective. Start applying these techniques both in your daily schedules and for organizational practices to optimize your strategic planning capabilities.

After an interruption,
it takes a person up to 25 minutes
to return to the concentration level
of their original task.

When people do two cognitive tasks at once,
their cognitive capacity can drop from that of
a Harvard MBA to that of an eight-year-old child.

Office distractions eat up an average of
2.1 hours a day.

Employees spend an average of
11 minutes on a project
before becoming distracted.

[1] David Rock, Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2009).