How to Stop Drifting Through Your Workday (Like Gus the Penguin)

A powerful framework to regain control of your focus and time.

Image Credit: Dall-E

Did you hear about Gus, an emperor penguin from Antarctica?

He drifted away more than 3400km from his home and appeared on a sandy beach in Western Australia in November 2024.

While this might be a rare incident, it's not too different from what happens to us every day.

Imagine the following:

You sit down to work on a high-priority presentation for a conference.

As you begin, you remember that a former colleague sent you something helpful in a LinkedIn message. You head there to find her message—but instead of staying focused, this happens:

• You glance at your feed and see an article titled "Top 10 Leadership Lessons from Jeff Bezos."

• Intrigued, you click. The article references a must-read book, so you search for it on Amazon.

• While on Amazon, a productivity book recommendation catches your eye. You add it to your wishlist.

• Then, you remember you need to order a new charger. As you check out, you receive a notification—your package from last week has arrived. You go to track it.

• Before you know it, 30 minutes have vanished, and your presentation remains untouched.

Wait—weren’t you supposed to be working on that presentation?

Like Gus, the emperor penguin, you have drifted far from where you intended to be.

In today's first issue of Winning the Workday, we’ll explore a framework to help you stop drifting and regain your focus.

And I’ll share one actionable tip that could save you hours every month—especially if the scenario above feels all too familiar. These are not just theoretical concepts but practical strategies you can implement immediately to take control of your workday.

Let’s dive in and start Winning Your Workday.

---

How to Avoid Drifting Like Gus the Penguin

So, how do you stop drifting away from your priorities?

You need to understand what currents pull you off track and how to navigate them effectively.

Think of it like this:

Each day, we come across numerous inputs—conversations, emails, news, and social media. Meanwhile, we aim for specific results. In the middle, there's us, navigating this chaos.

To achieve great results, we need to work backward:

1. Build Your Mental Shield (Mindset).

2. Understand the different currents (types of inputs).

3. Reduce the waves that let you drift (dealing with unfavorable inputs).

Let’s break this 3-step process down.

Step 1: Build Your Mental Shield

Humans are unique because we can create amazing things just by thinking. Some examples:

• Humans landed on the moon purely by solving problems with thought.

• We built computers that can process billions of calculations per second.

• We discovered antibiotics, extending life expectancy dramatically.

This proves one thing: Mindset is key. We can achieve great things if our minds are sharp, focused, and equipped with the right mental models.

However, even the best mind cannot function properly if it is bombarded with the wrong inputs.

Sometimes, we voluntarily perform a DoS attack on our brains. A DoS attack (Denial-of-Service) happens when hackers overwhelm a computer with too many requests, making it unresponsive. It’s like when everyone tries to buy Taylor Swift concert tickets at once, causing the website to crash.

Every input we receive forces us to make small decisions, each with the potential to steer us off course.

Since we can't avoid all distractions, we must know what matters. This helps us focus and not drift away.

We need a filtering system.

Step 2: Understand the Different Currents

A useful framework for this is The Circle of Influence, introduced by Stephen R. Covey in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

The framework consists of three layers:

• Circle of Concern – Everything that worries you.

• Circle of Influence – Things you can influence with the help of others.

• Circle of Control – Things you can control directly.

That’s great in theory, but how does it apply to your daily work life?

Circle of Concern (Distractions & Worries)

• The latest viral workplace trend.

• The weather, politics, global events.

• The company’s financial performance.

• A competitor launching a similar product.

• Whether the economy enters a recession.

Circle of Influence (Leverage & Relationships)

• Helping a colleague with their work.

• Improving collaboration within your team.

• Persuading your manager to support an idea.

• Getting buy-in from stakeholders for your project.

• Shaping the company’s internal culture by setting an example.

Circle of Control (Your Productivity)

• How you plan your day.

• What tasks you focus on.

• How you respond to emails and meetings.

• Whether you allow distractions to take over your attention.

• What time you wake up and how you structure your morning.

The key takeaway?

✔ Focusing on the Circle of Control helps you get things done.
✔ Being aware of the Circle of Influence helps you increase your impact.
✔ Spending too much time in the Circle of Concern leads to stress and wasted energy.

Like Gus, the penguin, drifting into the wrong currents will pull you further from what matters.

Stephen Covey put it perfectly:
"I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions."

To win your workday, you must steer your focus deliberately.

Next, let’s look at a practical way to do this.

Step 3: Reduce the Waves That Let You Drift

Social media is a Concern-generating machine! Most of what you find there creates unnecessary worries:

• Am I good enough?

• Do I have enough money?

• Am I on track with my career?

Worst of all? You’re passive. Algorithms dictate what you see and steal your attention.

Social media can be useful, but the biggest issue is the feed—it’s designed to pull you off track and steal your time.

Fortunately, there’s a quick fix: feed blockers. With them, you don’t have to stop using social media, but you can reclaim hours of time.

Take, for example, the News Feed Eradicator for LinkedIn. Once installed, it replaces your LinkedIn feed with a random quote:

That doesn’t mean you’ll never check the feed again, but it stops you from mindlessly scrolling.

To check the feed intentionally, you can deactivate the blocker—or even better, develop your own algorithm with The Focused Social Media Method:

1. Identify 5 people whose content genuinely benefits you.

2. Bookmark their profiles.

3. Schedule time in your calendar for checking their updates.

Now, you won’t miss valuable insights—but you’ll reclaim hours every week.

---

The Takeaways

That’s it.

Here’s what you learned today:

✅ Mindset is key – filtering inputs helps you stay on track.
✅ The Circle of Influence framework – focus on what you can control.
✅ A simple social media fix – eliminate distractions and reclaim your time.

To start applying this, take one action today: Install a social media feed blocker.

---

P.S. If you’re enjoying Winning the Workday, consider referring it to a friend. It would mean the world to me and keep me accountable for delivering actionable insights every week.