Why the Highest Performers Focus on “Impact Windows” Not The Grind
As I left the meeting room I knew I had just done my most valuable work in the entire week. The last 1.5 hours of leadership and facilitation was more valuable than the output of many previous hours combined.
I had architected an “impact window”. A brief moment in time where all of the ingredients come together to enable you to do your best work.
I came out of that meeting reflecting on how I could architect more of these impact windows in my life
The fallacy of “the grind”
I do not subscribe to the belief that for 10-12 hours a day we can sustain any output of significant work or value, let alone any of our very best work. Yet this is what we are so often told and socially pressured to do in the corporate world.
Sure, we get work done, but the ingredients to be at our best seldom exist.
Seeking our greatest impact
Instead, I believe if we take a step back and evaluate our lives we can begin to identify the pockets where we delivered exponential value and most likely felt like we were operating at our best at the same time.
As I walked back to my desk I thought to myself why can’t every minute of every workday feel like this? Why can’t I have this level of impact and value creation in everything that I do?
I quickly reminded myself that this in fact is not the right question to be asking, because it is impossible. As human beings we are at our best when oscillating between meaningful productive stress and intentional rest. This becomes a positive feedback loop where we are being stretched and challenged through action and recovering and growing through rest.
This also couldn’t be more alien to the traditional 9–5 corporate grind.
And this leads to the more interesting question.
What would it look like if our lives were architected to expose as many impact windows as possible?
Instead of spending all of those undervalued hours in the purgatory of diminishing returns where could you be investing your time and energy to recover and rejuvenate?
This is a foundational component of the human performance equation. And it comes at a time where this has never felt more counterintuitive than today in our overworked corporate cultures.
Seeking delta opportunities
Instead of trying with all your might to sit at your desk for another hour, or opening your laptop for a few last minute emails before bed — seek stress to rest delta opportunities.
A delta opportunity is represented when you are able to shift as effectively as possible from a high output impact window to a rejuvenating recovery zone.
If you need some additional persuasion — grab a copy of “Peak Performance” where authors Stulberg and Magness paint the neuro-chemical picture of exactly what happens when we effectively make the shift from impact window to recovery zone — and why that makes all the difference in the world.
Where to from here?
Dive in. Head first.
As counter-culture as this may seem I encourage you to run a test on yourself.
Spend a week optimizing for your delta opportunities and observe the effects. Part of this process will be identifying what it feels like to be operating in your impact window and when you fall out of it — equally important is understanding what activities represent effective recovery.
If nothing else you will learn something new about yourself. But I won’t be surprised if you stumble upon some of your best work and energy in the process.
This post is a part of the growing body of work within the Human Performance Lab, an immersive development program for teams and individuals to gain meaningful exposure to modalities and frameworks that enable our best performance. This program is facilitated by Tyrell Mara and led by a group of world class practitioners. Drop Tyrell a line to learn more.
