One 90-minute highlight can rescue your entire day

Your day starts with a buzz and a blink. The screen lights your face before the sun does, and you’re already reacting. Meetings pile into the calendar, messages stack up, and by late afternoon you can’t name one thing you’re proud of. Tonight, try something different. Grab a sticky note, write one highlight for tomorrow, and stick it where you’ll see it when the coffee steams. Keep it small but meaningful, the kind of thing that would make you say, “Yes, that mattered.”

When morning comes, you open the calendar and give this highlight a home. Sixty to ninety minutes—just enough to get in the zone without draining you. You gather what you need before the start, like laying out a gym bag the night before. The moment the block begins, you do the first tiny action you planned, not the tempting inbox tap. Your phone buzzes once on the counter, but the note on your laptop reminds you why this time is spoken for.

Midway through, you feel that click when attention settles. You’re not racing, you’re moving with intent. A colleague pings you, and you quickly reply, “Heads down till 10, will reply after.” It feels odd to protect your time at first, but then you finish the thing you chose, and that lightness you’ve missed comes back. The rest of the day can be messy, yet you already banked a win.

This works because attention is selective. Choosing one focal task creates a target for your brain’s limited capacity, reducing decision fatigue and context switching. Constraining time to 60–90 minutes fits natural ultradian rhythms—periods of heightened focus followed by the need for a break. And writing the plan builds a small precommitment, a proven nudge that increases follow-through.

Tonight, write one highlight you want to complete tomorrow, size it for 60–90 minutes, and drop it on your calendar like any important meeting. Before the block, set out what you’ll need and note the very first action so you can start in 30 seconds flat. When the time arrives, silence notifications, put your phone out of reach, and begin with that first small move. If your day goes sideways, pick a 20–30 minute evening substitute so you keep momentum. Do this for three days and notice how one clear win steadies the rest of your schedule; give it a try tonight.