Deep Work and the Maker's schedule!
It's easy to feel productive by checking off a bunch of small, and most likely meaningless, tasks in our to-do lists. We shoot off a few emails, have a few meetings and the day starts feeling busy and productive.
On the other hand, the important work is like tough knots which require at least 3-4 hours of uninterrupted single tasking to make some headway. In order to dig deep and move forward, it is important to schedule a stimuli-free time to focus on the important work.
The key here, as a creative and an entrepreneur, is to understand that if we don't do the important work, no one else will. And if we are busy fighting fires all the time, we will never get the space and time to work on the important stuff.
HT to Paul Graham who wrote about Maker's schedule and Manager's schedule and to Cal Newport for writing the book Deep Work.