The leak that’s costing you 10+ hours a week

High performers don’t just lose hours. They leak them.

After last week’s immersion breakdown, the obvious question is:

Which leak is costing me the most?

Because if you find and fix your #1 leak, you’ll often double your deep work hours faster than chasing all six.

The 3-Minute Leak Diagnostic

Answer these yes/no prompts. The category with the most “yes” answers is your biggest leak.

👉 Tie?
Choose the one that feels most painful or shows up earliest in your day.

👉 Scored high in multiple?
That’s normal. Closing just one leak often makes the others easier.

Distraction

– Do you check your phone more than once per deep work block?
– Do “just a quick glance” moments spiral into lost time?

Unfinished Business

– Do conversations or worries replay while you’re working?
– Do you have more than 5 open loops in your head right now?

Fatigue / Physical

– Do you feel discomfort (back, hips, neck, eyes) within 30 minutes of sitting?
– Do you lose energy in the afternoon regardless of sleep?

Cognitive Load

– Do you start a task and immediately feel flooded with sub-steps?
– Do you switch tasks more than 3 times in a block?

Arousal Mismatch

– Do you often feel too flat (bored) or too wired (anxious) to focus?
– Do you need caffeine or stimulants just to get going?

Environment

– Does your workspace double as a relaxation or leisure space?
– Is your desk visually cluttered right now?

👉 Scoring: 0–2 per category. Highest score = your biggest leak.

Close Your #1 Leak (Priority Levers)

Once you know your top leak, don’t chase everything at once. Run the single lever below for 7 days straight before layering others:

• Distraction → Lock the door: Airplane mode + one-tab.

• Unfinished Business → Empty the loops: 90s release at start, sweep at end.

• Fatigue / Physical → Reset the body: Body Check Trio + strict wake/cutoff.

• Cognitive Load → Shrink the game: Write one outcome line, park the rest.

• Arousal Mismatch → Tune chemistry: 2-min primer (up = fast inhales / down = slow exhales).

• Environment → Cue the cave: Clear the space, anchor one signal (lamp/headphones).

👉 Don’t touch the others yet. One lever, one week. That’s how immersion hours start stacking.

Measure the Win

• One immersion hour = 40+ minutes uninterrupted and your Single Outcome Line completed.

• If you’re running 50/10, count any block that clears 40 minutes as a win.

• Track immersion hours/day for the next 7 days.

• Most clients double their immersion hours within 14 days once their top leak is closed.

The Truth

Your brain doesn’t care how hard you work.
It cares how much noise you close.

Closing one leak is powerful. Rebuilding the system is where performance compounds.

Close the right leak, and depth stops being rare.
It becomes your baseline.

— Marcus