Add these 2 routines to your workday in 2026, says focus and productivity expert
As 2026 approaches, many people are looking for tips and tricks to ring in the new year at home and at work.
While many people are considering a new morning or evening routine, there are two more routines you might want to incorporate into your schedule, especially at work, to better focus when you need to and disconnect at the end of the day, says Cal Newport, professor of computer science at Georgetown University and author of several books on focus and productivity.
Newport is an advocate of using time blocking to free up time during the day for deep work—the most cognitively demanding tasks.
The first routine Newport recommends is for transitioning into a deep work block.
“Our brains are not suited to sustained concentration on an abstract or symbolic subject,” says Newport. “Give your brain time, help it get into deep work mode, because that’s a very unnatural thing you’re asking your brain to do.”
Many workers are constantly bombarded with notifications throughout the day. A Microsoft report in April found that employees were interrupted by emails, meetings, or pings every 2 minutes. When the brain is managing all that digital noise, it’s in a very different state than when you’re focused on deep work, so switching between these modes is necessary.
Before a work block deep in your calendar, you can take a brisk walk around the block, make tea, or clear your desk; you can repeat this and use it as a signal to your brain that it’s time to switch modes. Think of it like stretching before going for a run.
“You can’t close your inbox, open Microsoft Word and think, ‘I’m focused now,’” Newport says.
You also need a shutdown routine at the end of your workday.
“It’s a way to clear your brain after work so it’s not partially held hostage by work thoughts in your time outside of work,” says Newport.
When signing out at the end of the workday, the shutdown routine involves doing a final inbox check, looking ahead at the work calendar, and writing down reminders.
Eventually you should feel: “We’re in a good place, there’s nothing else I need to figure out tonight, we’re on the right track for the things we need to do.” Next, you should have “some sort of visible shutdown notification or routine to indicate that you are finished.” Newport, for example, checks the box that says “Closure complete” as the final step.
A shutdown routine won’t magically end your work anxiety, but “it can help teach your brain to slow down work thoughts.”
“Instead of engaging in reflection, you say I checked that box and I wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t gone through everything and convinced myself that we were in a good position to shut down for the day,” Newport says.
“This prevents you from being tempted to think maybe I should go check my inbox,” he adds. “It helps you leave work in a way that your brain eventually learns, so you can get more out of your life outside of work.”
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