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Last weeks two new clients ended up signing my coaching program. I was thrilled and we all were excited, of course. And I realized quickly that both (both of them entreprenuers) were in need of building energy.
Glad I just finished 6 newsletter editions about building energy, I saw that writing those editions help me develop my framework and the way I coach big time.
So what we started with both clients is … building energy. All the good stuff, step by step: Reduce alcohol, start fasting, bringing in the movement, tools for managing stress.
But what was clear to me in the first minutes of talking to the clients: They are both self employed and they don’t do deep work. A daily 90-minute focus ritual.
It is the time of your workday in which you move the needle on the map.
It became so important to me during the last years.
It hurts (bodily) when I can’t make time for it.
Yes, it is that important.
Let’s start.
Today at a Glance
You don’t have a time problem.
The NeuroScience behind the 90-minute rule
How I coach the 90-minute rule
You don’t have a time problem
Most people I work with don’t have a time problem. They feel like there isn’t enough time for all the stuff going on in their businesses.
Their calendars are full, their brains are sliced into 5‑minute fragments. At the end of the day they’ve answered 100 emails, sat in 7 meetings—and still haven’t touched the one thing that actually moves the business.
Or they just start in the morning, after their morning coffee, to open up the laptop and start doing … things: Checking emails, answering emails, checking social media, checking numbers, etc.
They just have an focusing problem. And they waste energy. It feels like being busy, but:
Did you work on the one thing today, that has the highest leverage, urgency and makes the most sense RIGHT NOW?
The NeuroScience Behind the 90-minute-rule
The 90‑minute rule is a simple antidote for this. Do one protected 90-minute-deep-work-session and get more output than a whole day of multitasking.
Neuroscience gives us 3 reasons:
1. Your brain works in ~90‑minute focus–fatigue cycles (ultradian rhythms).
Sleep research first showed these ~90‑minute patterns at night.
Later work suggests similar rest–activity waves in daytime attention and learning capacity.
Aim for 60–90 minute focus blocks as the outer limit.
After that, your brain is working harder for less.
Note: “90‑minute rule” is not a precise internal metronome, but a good practical approximation. It differs in people.
Sustained attention naturally decays with time‑on‑task (vigilance decrement).
Meta‑analytic work on attention shows a robust pattern:
Performance declines with time‑on‑task.
Slower reaction times, more errors, and more mind‑wandering.
So, when you start re‑reading the same line, missing details, or “snapping back” from a mind‑wandering, you should … STOP.
Task‑switching and multitasking are a “Switch-Tax”.
Research shows: Every time you switch a task, you pay switch tax.
Changing costs time and energy.
Experiments show that reaction times and error rates rise when you alternate between tasks.
This might costs you 40% of reductions in productivity.
Not overall! Every time you switch!
And when you’re under fatigue and start switching:
Your performance gets even worse.
So, my 8-12 hours, all day learning session at the library while studying medicine wasn’t that great?
Yes, I guess.
I estimate I could have save a years in time in med school, if I had known how to learn and how to deep work.
How I Coach the 90-minute-rule
Coaching this is pretty straight forward. Though, there are some pitfalls you have to solve first with your clients.
So this is what I will do with my 2 new clients - once they can build energy by theirselves:
Identify the highest leverage, most urgent and important task, that really moves the needle.
Do this every morning with a pen an paper before opening up your laptop.
Then, and only then, protect one 90-minute-block during your day.
Ideally in your best focus time. Same enviroment. No distractions. You are not available to anyone.
Set a 90 minute timer and go.
In my experience the most common pitfalls are:
Asking yourself this question every morning before beginning is the hardest. It takes time to become a new habit.
Everything else seems either interesting or more urgent.
Keeping up the workflow during the 90 minutes is -surprisingly - not a big problem for most people - once they have started.
Of course, I have to give credit to Cal Newport and his wonderful book Deep Work. Highly recommend it.
That's it for this Saturday Sunday (and one week to late, I did not have time for deep work last week).
The next newsletter edition will come out on Saturday, the 23rd of May 2026.
We will continue with energy mapping and peak performance windows/rhythms.
“Map Your Energy, Hunt in Sprints"
Own it!
Yours,
Moritz
PS:
Can you rarely make time for physical activity or regeneration? Do youI feel emotionally unstable and have difficulties to stay calm under pressure? Is managing people emotionally and energetically draining for you?
If that sounds familiar, Mastering Emotions is for you. I began coaching in 2023. Since then, l've coached over 30 executives, entrepreneurs, and high potentials on building Emotional Intelligence and into becoming future leaders.
If you want to learn more about my coaching book an orientation call here:
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