This weekend, Hayley McAuley from Wigan took home a very modern trophy: the winner of the first-ever Flatpack Furniture Championships, building a sideboard in just nine minutes. Nine. I’ve honestly taken longer to make a cup of tea…
Now, I’ve always fancied myself as a bit of a flatpack ninja and regularly have won some (imaginary) competitions in my time. Not to brag, but I’ve assembled more than my fair share of cabinets, desks, and side tables without breaking a sweat. Confident, capable, possibly a little smug, I thought I had it all figured out.
That is, until the Platsa storage bed came along.
With ten drawers, hidden compartments, and an instruction manual that looked like a novella, it was the ultimate challenge. I got stuck in, determined to show my youngest what an absolutely interior star his mother was when he returned from school that day. I hit my stride, and made what I thought was brilliant progress. Tools everywhere, pieces flying together: I was in the zone.
Until I realised I’d missed a crucial step.
A hidden (but important) structural step had been misread by me early on, meaning all my 'good work'… wasn’t. The whole base was out of line and looking like the leaning tower of Pisa, leading me no choice but to retrace my steps, and start again, this time following the instructions more carefully.
As I sat on the floor, surrounded by drawers and spare screws, I wasn’t just thinking about Allen keys. I was thinking about how good it had felt to be that immersed in something, and how rare that kind of focus can be at work.
We get joy from total focus
There’s something strangely satisfying about getting completely absorbed in a task. Whether it’s assembling furniture, writing something meaningful, or solving a fiddly problem, being "in the zone" feels good.
That state of flow - where time melts away and you’re fully engaged - isn’t just pleasant. It’s productive. Studies show that when we work with deep focus, we’re not only more efficient, but we’re also more creative, more accurate, and more fulfilled.
But let’s be honest, that kind of focus is increasingly hard to come by. Especially in modern workplaces, where Slack notifications, meeting invites, and “have you got a quick minute” chips away at our attention before we’ve even opened our laptops.
And over time, that lack of focus adds up. Projects stall. Work feels chaotic. People get burnt out from the mental load of constantly switching gears.
Focus for your team deserves protection
In the same way you wouldn’t try to build a bed while simultaneously answering emails, running between calls, and checking your phone, we need to start giving real work the same level of protection.
That means blocking out time for focused work (and sticking to it) and creating space for deep work, not just being ‘busy’.
And a few small, practical changes can make a big difference:
- Protect time like a bouncer: Block out a couple of hours each week for proper deep work (and don’t just colour it grey in your calendar and hope for the best..). Treat it like a client meeting. Because future-you will thank past-you for holding that boundary.
- Murder your notifications: Turn off everything that pings, pongs, or flashes. At least for a chunk of the day. Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, inbox dings & pings... They can all wait. We’ve survived millennia without red circles and dopamine hits. So you’ll be fine.
- Normalise 'Do Not Disturb': Give your team permission to log off a bit. Literally. A shared team norm that says “heads-down time is a good thing” can take the guilt out of it and make it easier for everyone to focus without feeling antisocial or unavailable.
- Audit the noise: Take a look at your recurring meetings, standing calls, or Slack channels. Are they actually useful? Or are they just habit? Be ruthless and cut, combine, or clarify so people aren’t drowning in digital chatter.
- Build a focus-friendly culture: This isn’t about productivity 'hacks' (urrgghh - don't you just loathe that phrase...). It’s about permission. Set the tone that not every moment needs to be hyper-responsive. Trust people to manage their time like grown-ups. And if someone says, “I need space to crack on with this,” respect their time.
Fancy something a bit more interesting than popping 'focus-time' in your diary? What about some FLOKUS-time instead: a completely made-up word to describe where mindfulness-app-meets-Ikea. 😀
No Allen key required.
If you want help in regaining some FLOKUS in your team or its people strategy and operations, let’s talk via hello@thehrhub.co.uk or call 0203 627 7048
Not a phone or email kind of person? Grab my book, The MAGIC of HR, for more practical tips to build a culture that actually works.
