Why You’re Struggling to Focus — And How to Fix It Without Willpower

Imagine this:

You sit down at your desk.

You open your laptop and immediately get to work.

You feel calm, focused and ready.

You don’t procrastinate, dabble here and there or get lost in busy work.

You dive headfirst into your highest-leverage task and enter flow without friction.

You stay like this, and in a couple of hours, you’re done.

You’re done for the day.

No procrastination.

No second-guessing.

No endless to-do lists.

Just executing on your tasks with ease.

If this sounds unrealistic, or something reserved for disciplined people, I promise you it’s not.

It requires a simple shift somewhere most people overlook.

(If you think I was going to say mindset, I’ll give you a point for effort.)

It’s a shift in your environment.

Your environment has a greater influence on you than you realise.

And instead of forcing yourself and using willpower to get work done,

What if you create an environment that makes focusing effortless?

Your Environment is Failing You

If you’re like most creators, entrepreneurs or high-performers, you most likely believe:

• If you work harder, you’ll get it done.

• Focus is about willpower and discipline.

• It’s not procrastinating if you’re cleaning your workspace, is it?

While these are all valid ideas, they haven’t helped you get where you want to go, have they?

Here’s the thing:

Your environment is a system.

And this system is either supporting your work or it’s sabotaging your productivity.

Think about it: What’s your current physical and digital space like?

• Do you have many tabs open on your laptop?

• Do you have notifications coming in on your phone?

• How close is your phone to you when you’re working?

• Is the TV on in the background while you work?

• Do people come to you every 5 minutes and want to chat?

• Is your desk clean and tidy, or do you have glasses and plates from yesterday’s lunch?

• Do you have natural light coming in, or is it light from a lamp or overhead light?

• Is the place you work noisy or quiet?

• Do you have all your information stored in one place you can access and retrieve the information from, or is it scattered across 5 different apps?

These are small things that have huge implications on your ability to focus and be productive.

If you have 10 things going on around you and you use 10 units of mental energy to block them out, that’s 10 units of energy not invested in your work.

And as the day goes by, you have to recruit more and more energy to keep distractions at bay, but with decreasing energy and willpower, it becomes harder and harder.

So if you’ve been struggling to work effectively, it’s not because you’re lazy or broken.

You’re in an environment that is working against you.

Over time, this leads to:

• Constant multi-tasking

• Inconsistent execution

• Procrastination cycles

• Increased irritability

• Decision fatigue

• Self-doubt

• Burnout

This is where most people end up and get stuck.

They know what to do — they have the skills, ideas and ambition — but they can’t get themselves to do it.

Not because they lack the potential or anything else.

It’s because they are operating within environments that limit their potential.

If that never changes, they’ll stay stuck and be unable to unlock that next level.

How The Dishes Woke Me Up

Overwhelm.

This was something I struggled with a lot for the past month.

I felt overwhelmed by work.

I felt overwhelmed by university.

I felt overwhelmed by family and friends.

I felt overwhelmed by my schedule.

I felt overwhelmed by writing.

I felt overwhelmed by… the dishes?

Yes, believe it or not, the dishes in the sink also began to overwhelm me.

And that was my wake-up call.

When I realised that something as small as the dishes was overwhelming me, I knew I had gone off course.

I was irritable, tired, restless, stressed and sensitive to anything and everything.

Other than my workload, nothing had changed, other than my environment.

I was cleaning less.

Letting things slip.

Letting other things pile up.

Until I was face to face with… the dishes.

I was using so much willpower and discipline to get work done that I started to let other things slide.

But the more I let those things slide, the more they built up.

And that’s how I got to a point where I was standing face to face, feeling overwhelmed by dishes.

I finally took a step back and decided something needed to change.

Design To Make Discipline and Willpower Obsolete

Instead of relying on discipline and willpower, rely on a system.

Systems lead to predictable and consistent results.

Willpower is a finite resource, and discipline is hard for most unless it’s a habit.

So, build a system.

Instead of forcing yourself to get things done, flow into it.

This is the power of environmental design.

Because the external world can influence our internal world, use that to your advantage.

Build a workspace — physical and digital — that signals focus, reduces friction, and minimises decision fatigue, so focus becomes automatic.

This way, your environment is like a co-pilot for success.

Instead of focus and consistent execution being a battle, it becomes your baseline.

It’s like when you wake up with your clothes already laid out and your bags already packed.

Vs.

Waking up, still needing to choose what you’re wearing, still needing to iron and still needing to pack your bags.

This is the difference between starting the morning calm and relaxed or stressed and frustrated.

When you change your environment, you:

• Open your laptop and know exactly what to do

• Get more done in less time

• Take the right actions with less effort

• Finish your work, still feeling energised

• More proactive instead of reactive in your work

• Feel proud of yourself and proud of your effort

This happens because your environment does the heavy lifting and not you.

Working smarter, not harder.

Here’s how:

Designing Your Environment

To avoid overwhelming yourself, think of this process in levels. Focus on completing one level and making it a baseline before moving on to the next.

In no time, you’ll have an environment that supports your deep work and execution.

Level 1: Clear the Chaos (Remove Friction)

Before you can build your environment, you need to eliminate what’s getting in the way.

1. Audit your distractions:

Write down every source of interruption — digital, physical, or mental — that steals your attention daily.

This includes:

• Notifications

• Open tabs

• Slack / WhatsApp / email

• Clutter in your workspace

• A messy digital desktop

• Physical disorganisation

• Ongoing tasks

• People

• Noise

2. Eliminate or minimise them:

• Turn off notifications (permanently)

• Mute messages during focus hours

• Use tools like Focus Mode, Freedom, or Cold Turkey

• Clean and declutter your desk — only the essentials stay

• Put your phone in another room while working

• Use noise-cancelling headphones or white noise

• Put a “Do Not Disturb” sign on your door or desk (yes, seriously)

Level 2: Build Your Deep Work Zone

This is about designing a physical space that puts you in a focused state the moment you enter it.

1. Assign a space for focused work only

• Even if it’s just one corner of a room, make it sacred

• When you’re there, you only do high-leverage, distraction-free work

2. Use environmental cues

• Listen to the same music playlist every time you do deep work

• Drink the same beverage (coffee, tea, water, etc.)

• Minimalist layout, clear desk, intentional lighting

• Keep only the tools that support the task in front of you

• Use scents (like essential oils) or lighting to signal “focus mode”

These conditions cause your brain to associate the space with a specific mental state.

Level 3: Optimise Your Digital Environment

This is where most creators and high performers leak time and energy.

1. Streamline your digital tools

• Use one main dashboard or command centre (Notion, ClickUp, etc.)

• Set up templates for recurring tasks or projects

• Clear digital clutter weekly (tabs, files, notes)

2. Create a “Focus Mode” setup

• One browser, one window, one tab

• Turn off all non-essential apps

• Close Slack, email, and messages

• Use full-screen writing or work apps

• Use minimalist themes and layouts

3. Pre-load your mind

• Write down your top 1–3 priorities the night before

• When you start work, your brain isn’t wondering what to do — it’s already in motion

Level 4: Create Rhythms & Routines That Prime Focus

Routines reduce decision fatigue. They build momentum.

1. Design a Focus Ritual

• Wake up → hydrate → move → short mindfulness (breath, journaling) → deep work

• Make it repeatable and enjoyable — it should energise, not exhaust you

2. Time-block Deep Work Sessions

• 90-minute blocks are ideal for deep focus

• Schedule these when you’re at your peak energy

• Protect them like your most important meetings

3. Use a “Start Ritual”

• Same ritual every time you begin a deep work block

• Example: Open workspace → start focus playlist → review priorities → begin timer

Level 5: Protect Your Energy & Mental Space

Focus isn’t just about removing distractions. It’s about managing your internal state.

1. Create boundaries

• Define work hours and don’t work outside them (don’t be too rigid with this; life happens)

• Communicate availability (no instant replies = more focus)

• Say no to low-leverage requests

2. Rest proactively

• Schedule real breaks — walk, stretch, sunlight

• End your day with a shutdown ritual: review, reflect, reset

• Prioritise sleep, movement, and nutrition — they are fuel for your brain

James Clear says:

“Imagine if your world—your home, your office, your gym, all of it—was crafted in a way that made the good behaviors easier and the bad behaviors harder. How often would you make healthy and productive choices if they were simply your default response to your environment? And how much easier would that be than trying to motivate yourself all of the time?”

You don’t need more willpower or discipline.

You need an environment that works with you.

When you design an environment that supports your best self, execution becomes your default.

No burnout. No chaos. No wasted days.

If you want a shortcut to designing your environment, you can grab the free checklist here.

It’s time to turn your environment into a system that scales your focus, energy, and momentum — every single day.

Thank you for reading.

I hope you enjoyed it.

See you in the next one.

— Shana