The Workplace Chameleon with Dr. Celina
This podcast is about the changing organization and our relationship to it -- how we enter, thrive and exit. Each episode is meant to be thoughtful, funny, and applicable. Stories, insight, and "words to say" come from Dr. Celina's experience with over two and a half decades of listening, learning from and leading conversations in hundreds of companies. Each episode will explore a new theme about life arriving in, interacting with and leaving the workplace.
The Workplace Chameleon with Dr. Celina
Episode 90: Your Mental Real Estate
Your brain is prime property, but too often we let distractions, interruptions, and clutter take over the space meant for our best ideas. In this episode of The Workplace Chameleon, Dr. Celina Peerman explores how to protect your “mental real estate”, your attention, focus, and cognitive energy, from being drained by constant pings, messy workspaces, endless interruptions, and even your own internal noise. She shares practical strategies for building healthy boundaries around your thinking time, from blocking focus hours to signaling when you’re in “deep work” mode, and shows why protecting your mind is not just a productivity trick but a powerful leadership move. You’ll also learn how to model these habits for your team, creating a culture where focus and clarity are valued, respected, and multiplied. Tune in for reflection questions, practical resets, and a challenge to put up one new “fence” around your mind this week so you can reclaim your prime mental property and use it for what matters most.
For more leadership tools and resources, visit www.drcelinapeerman.com
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Welcome back to the Workplace Chameleon. This is where I share ideas, strategies and support on how to adapt, align and lead with intention, even when the workplace feels a little wild. I'm Dr Selina and today, in this episode, I want to explore one of the most valuable things you own, something worth more than any possession you could ever buy, more than any piece of land you could live on it's your mental real estate. Your brain is prime property. I'm talking the best waterfront, high-rise, center of town, valuable. But here's the thing If you're not careful, you can let every passing distraction set up camp on it Emails, text notifications, pop-up meetings and the random hey got a minute. They all start building little shacks on your best thinking space and, before you know it, there's no room left for the ideas, the priorities or the deep work you actually care about, and even the work you are being held accountable to. Let's talk about how to protect that space, why it matters and how you can teach your team to do the same.
Speaker 1:When I say mental real estate, I really mean these three core things your attention, your focus and your cognitive energy. Let's start with some definitions. Attention is your ability to notice and direct your mind to where it matters in the moment. Think of it as the front gate of your property. It decides what gets in first. Focus is your ability to stay with one thing long enough to actually move it forward. Move it forward. This is the foundation. It holds up literally everything else you build. Lastly, of the three, cognitive energy this is the fuel. It's what powers your thinking, decision making and creativity. Just like your house likely needs some sort of fuel in this case I'll name electricity for it to run your brain needs this energy to operate at its best. Together, these three attention, focus and energy are the square footage of your mental property. You only get so much of it, and if you fill it with junk mail, pop-up shacks and uninvited guests, there will be no room left in this beautiful home or, in this case, the high-value thinking you want to build and be known for. So here's my first reflection question for you If you sketched your mental property right now, what's taking up the biggest space? Is it an idea worth building on, or is it just a noisy neighbor squatting where it doesn't belong? Squirrel alert Not everything deserves a plot on your mental map. The squirrel alert is a new feature that can be found in my third book, 39 Squirrels, along with the companion guidebook that's coming out as well. There are some common ways we accidentally actually give away our mental real estate without even realizing it.
Speaker 1:Four kinds of clutter Digital clutter, physical clutter, people clutter, self clutter. Digital clutter is not going to surprise you Endless notifications, too many open tabs, bouncing between apps. It's like putting billboards up all over your front lawn. It just takes up space. Physical clutter that messy workspace that whispers at you don't forget me, handle me next.
Speaker 1:It's hard to focus when your desk is a to-do list, people clutter being too available. Too often, every interruption becomes urgent, even if it really isn't Self-clutter, this one's kind of sneaky, it's the internal noise, overthinking, replaying old conversations oh, I'm so guilty of that one and running through tomorrow's to-do lists while you're sitting in today's meeting. And here's the kicker Each one steals from your essentials. Digital clutter robs attention. Physical clutter robs your focus. People clutter eats your energy for lunch. And self-clutter, I would propose to you. It hijacks all three. Think about it. That's why you can feel exhausted at the end of the day, even though you never got your most important work done. You know it's too often that I see it. I fall prey to it or I see other people struggle with it too when you're prepping for some big presentation or report, but your email keeps pinging and messages pop up and co-workers pop in by the time you get to that presentation, where you needed to be at your best, the slides were rushed, the stress was sky high, your confidence is shot. Those interruptions camped all over that property. Here's a one-minute reset that I like to consider. It's something you can do right now. Close one browser tab, put your phone face down and take a deep breath. Congratulations, you actually just cleared a few square feet of your mental property.
Speaker 1:Let's look at how we can reinforce this by setting boundaries around your mind. Reinforce this by setting boundaries around your mind. Protecting your mental real estate means building fences healthy fences around your best thinking, time and energy. I like to be really practical with this, because there are some ways to do this better than others. Here are a few of my favorites Time blocks. While I explored this in other episodes, I think it's worth bringing up here as well. Scheduling deep thinking work the same way you would schedule a meeting is a great way to set a boundary and protect it. Okay, I need to take my own advice on this one, just saying right. But when I do block that time off and I get that deep thinking time, guess what? Oh, my work's better too. Another one do not disturb tools, silence notifications during those blocks of time, during those blocks of time.
Speaker 1:Number three workplace and space signals. Headphones, closed door, even a sticky note that says focus mode. Give yourself a visual that says you are all in and let others know that for you to do your best work you need some time. Agenda filters another one that maybe you haven't considered. Before agreeing to a meeting or project, ask does this deserve my prime mental space? Okay, sometimes we don't have a choice. So, you know, send this episode to your boss. But it depends certainly on our role and our scope of responsibility. But I really want you to consider how we communicate boundaries. If you disappear into focus time without telling anyone, they're going to assume you're available. If you said I'll be head down working from 9 to 11, I'll check messages after Now. We don't always have the freedom to do that. So if it's 15 minutes, take 15 minutes.
Speaker 1:If your best thinking was in a specific office, who are you letting in without a key? Like pick your best workspace ever. Is that the penthouse? Does it have big windows? Is it in the middle of a forest with a view? But who do you let into that brain space without a key? Remember, the best fences are the ones that protect your attention, your focus and your energy. I think it's also important and part of what I want to encourage you with is sometimes we can say, selena, you haven't met my boss or in my job. That's just not practical. Guess what, for those of you who are people leaders, project leaders, technical leaders, expertise leaders, you could actually teach some of this to others. This isn't just a personal productivity trick. It's a leadership move. When leaders protect their own mental space and respect others, they create a culture that allows deeper work.
Speaker 1:Encourage your team to identify their best focus windows and block them. Reduce the numbers of quick interruptions hey, you got a minute. You create and bundle your questions instead of firing them off one at a time. And when someone says I'm in focus time right now, treat it like the important meeting it is. Here's a team exercise idea have everyone share their best focus window and how they'd like to protect it. This week Bonus, here are three reflection questions you could use with your team.
Speaker 1:When in your day is your best mental real estate most valuable? What's one distraction we could remove together this week? How can we signal focus time so it's respected by everyone? Squirrel alert. Don't pile on quick interruptions. Every single one costs more mental property than you think.
Speaker 1:Your mental real estate is finite and it is so worth protecting. Every time you give it away without thought, you lose the space for your best ideas, your clearest thinking and your most strategic moves, and we need you. So here's my challenge for you this week Choose one fence to put up around your mind. To put up around your mind. Maybe it's blocking a focus hour, maybe it's turning off notifications for part of a day, maybe it's clearing the clutter off your desk so you can breathe again. Whatever it is, make it deliberate and watch how much more you get done.
Speaker 1:Prime real estate doesn't stay valuable even if you let everyone else dump their stuff on it. Guard it well and it will keep paying you back with your best work. Thanks for joining me on this episode of the Workplace Chameleon. It is my hope and my endeavor that something I've said, something you've thought about some way, that we're working together, keeps you going, gives you the strength you need to take on the challenges in front of you. If this episode helped you think differently about your mental space, share it with your team and start the conversation about protecting each other's best thinking. I'll always encourage you to lead with intention, protect your priorities and, as always, keep learning something new today. Until next time, take care.
