Some people love to talk about “deep work”.

Focus on your core work, that which requires the most focus, and which adds the most value.

Do that and your productivity will skyrocket.

Right?

Not always.

Yes, measured over months or a year, you’ve got to do your deep work.

But some of the biggest chance I’ve seen in people’s productivity have come when they’ve given themselves permission to do the opposite: to tackle their shallow work for a while.

Always behind on taxes? Give yourself a week to get your admin in order and file those tax returns.

Always come home to a messy house? Give yourself two full days to really tidy it up.

Have hundreds of unread emails? Block off your calendar for half the week, don’t take any meetings, and process those emails!

Reminders that you’re late on taxes, a mess in the house, an overflowing inbox—those are all open loops that can and often will distract you.

They prevent you from focusing on your deep work.

Of course you can over-do this. Of course you can go all the way to the other end of the spectrum and procrastinate at a very tidy desk and reply to every single email within minutes.

Don’t do that.

But if you’re chronically overwhelmed and you’re seeing open loops everywhere: close those loops. Particularly the ones that are easy to tackle, but just take time. In other words: your shallow work.

I can’t emphasize it enough: let yourself catch up on your long to-do list of simple stuff. Block off time for it. It probably won’t take as long as you think and it will feel fantastic.