One sock. One black hole. One morning gone.
I left my office to deliver an important message and somehow ended up rummaging through the Lost and Found.
One simple task, a dozen small distractions, and suddenly my morning — and my brain — have been hijacked.
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A MESSAGE FROM PLAYPIPER
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DO SCHOOL DIFFERENT
Warning: A One-Sock Singularity Can Seriously Bend Space-Time
It’s 10:00 am on a Tuesday.
I’m leaving my office with a simple mission: deliver an important message.
But as I pass the Lost and Found, I spot a single lone sock and feel its gravitational pull…
It’s probably left behind after the swimming field trip.
But who goes home with only one sock on?
And what about all these other items?
Who is wandering around without their underwear?
That’s a $200 hoody!
And how did someone leave school without a coat when it’s -15°C outside?
What started as a simple detour quickly became… a black hole.
I left the office with a clear plan, a destination, and a timeline.
Somehow, I was now wandering the halls, questioning kids, rummaging through the Lost and Found.
Of course, just about every person I ran into had a question or a problem they needed help with.
Each request felt like another asteroid hitting my orbit.
A half hour later, I still hadn’t delivered the message.
In fact, I’d forgotten why I left the office, and I had enough socks to open a boutique.
I had lost all sense of time, reason, and proportion.
A “small” problem had sucked me into a parallel universe of detours — all valid, but not immediately important.
In that moment, I recognized the invisible weight of a thousand tiny decisions.
The Decision Fatigue Tax
Most days, it’s not moving the big rocks that wear me out.
It’s the pebbles.
Things like:
“Do you have a sec?”
“Can I let this student go outside for five extra minutes?”
“Do we have a spare charge cord?”
“Who covers supervision now that so-and-so called in sick?”
“Do I answer this email right away?”
Each decision in and of itself is small.
But the accumulation taxes my mental bandwidth.
By the time I tackle the tasks that actually require deep thinking, like coaching, planning, or problem-solving, I’m already depleted.
That’s the Decision Fatigue Tax.
3 Ways I Protect my Brain, and my Time
1. Default Answers
I turn recurring micro-decisions into defaults:
Outdoor recess? Yes, unless it’s unsafe.
Quick equipment swaps? That can be handled by office staff.
Non-urgent requests? Booked for a specific block.
Defaults take the thinking out of minor decisions.
2. The 90-Minute “No Interruptions” Block
I have one protected window of time every week.
Emergencies will come up.
But casual questions or walk-ins can wait until later.
This is the concept of deep work, something we covered recently in the Mastermind when we read Cal Newport’s book by the same name.
Newport describes deep work as a period of uninterrupted focus where one can tackle big projects, a project they’ve been avoiding, or deep thinking that takes more time.
90 minutes of purposeful focus feels like a superpower in a day filled with tiny decisions.
The trick isn’t just locking the door — it’s sending a signal to the people around you:
This is my thinking time.
Everything else waits.
It’s amazing what can fit in just 90 focused minutes.
3. The Parking Lot List
Anything not urgent gets parked.
This is my running list of tasks that are important, but don’t need to be done right away, and don’t warrant derailing my focus right now.
Here’s what usually ends up there:
Emails that don’t require an immediate response
Phone calls I need to return
Non-urgent parent questions
Staff requests that aren’t time sensitive
Updates I want to share, but don’t need to interrupt learning to deliver
Little tasks like ordering supplies, updating a doc, or checking a policy
Instead of bouncing between these all day long, I batch them.
I tackle the Parking Lot during a planned block, when my brain is prepared for lots of small decisions, not deep thinking.
It’s amazing how much calmer the day feels when tiny tasks live in a container and not in my head.
Protect Your Thinking Time
Burnout rarely comes from the big problems.
Most of the time, it’s from a death by a thousand invisible cuts.
I don’t brag about being busy anymore.
Now I build boundaries to keep my focus and my purpose intact.
When I protect my thinking, fewer things feel urgent, and I can focus on what actually matters.
Protect your thinking.
Reclaim your day.
Start with one sock… or one decision.
Feeling trapped in your own leadership Lost and Found?
Or weighed down by the invisible weight of a thousand tiny decisions?
You’re not alone.
Each week in the Mastermind, we share wins, struggles, and practical strategies, and leave with tools to make the day feel a little less like a black hole.
If you’re ready to join, I’d love to hear from you.
TIP OF THE WEEK
Your Brain is Your Superpower
Your brain is your leadership superpower. Stop spending it on socks and small stuff.
Ask yourself:
Where in your week are you losing time and energy to micro-decisions and management minutiae?
What systems could take those off your plate so your brain can stay focused on the important work?
Here are a few practical strategies to protect your time and free up space each week:
Batch Similar Tasks: Group small, repetitive decisions to process them all at once, like returning non-urgent emails or approving requests in one session.
Pre-Plan the Day’s Choices: Decide in advance how you want your day to flow, including breaks and transition times. Reduce “which decision next?” stress.
Visual Signals for Interruptions: Use a simple signal like a colored sticky or “focus light” to let staff/students know when you’re in a deep-work block.
Mini-Rituals to Reset Your Brain: Build tiny mental resets into your day. Take a 2-minute walk, a quick stretch, or a deep breath and prevent decision fatigue from piling up.
Identify where micro-decisions and management minutiae are draining your time, then put systems in place to handle things without having to think about it.
Free up your mental energy so you can focus on the work that truly matters.
SUNDAY VIBES
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PS … consistently doing what matters