Busy Employees React. CEOs Think.

Most summer mornings, I head out to the garden with good intentions.

I tell myself I’m going to check on the tomatoes, tie up a few vines, see how the squash is doing, and give everything a good drink before the Central Valley heat settles in.

It’s become one of my favorite parts of the day. The garden is quiet. The birds are already busy. The coffee tastes just a little better outside.

But if you’ve ever tended a vegetable garden, you know there’s always something else asking for your attention.

One weed.

Then another.

Then another.

Before long, I’ve spent thirty minutes pulling weeds!

I’ve been working hard the entire time. But I still haven’t tended the tomatoes.

I didn’t set out to spend the morning pulling weeds. It just … happened.

As I stood there one morning with a bucket full of weeds and tomato vines that still needed my attention, I couldn’t help but laugh.

Because I’d just described my workday.

One email. One notification. One quick question. One unexpected task. One more thing that “will only take a minute.”

By lunchtime, I’ve been busy all morning …

… but somehow the work that mattered most is still waiting.

And that’s when it hit me.

Sometimes the biggest threat to a healthy garden isn’t forgetting to tend to the tomatoes.

It’s letting the weeds decide where your attention goes.

Sometimes the biggest threat to a healthy garden isn’t forgetting to tend the tomatoes. It’s letting the weeds decide where your attention goes.

Our businesses are no different.

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✨ In This Article

If your workdays disappear beneath emails, interruptions, and other people’s priorities, you’re not alone.

In this article, you’ll discover why protecting your attention is one of the most important leadership habits a work-from-home entrepreneur can develop. You’ll also learn how thinking before reacting leads to better decisions, greater clarity, and a business that grows more intentionally.

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Busy Feels Responsible

One of the trickiest things about entrepreneurship is that being busy often feels productive.

You’re answering emails. Returning phone calls. Responding to clients. Posting on social media. Crossing things off your list.

Every one of those tasks feels responsible.

And sometimes they even are.

But here’s the question I’ve been asking myself lately:

Who decided those things deserved my attention today?

Was it me?

Or was it simply whatever happened to appear in front of me first?

That’s an uncomfortable question. Because handling things and reacting in the moment can look remarkably like leadership.

Until you realize you’ve spent an entire day responding to everyone else’s priorities while your own quietly waited in the corner.

Thinking Is Work

I think many of us — especially Gen X women — carry an unspoken belief that if we’re not visibly doing something, we’re not really working.

We grew up believing productivity looked like motion. Checking things off. Helping. Being useful. Staying busy.

So sitting quietly with a notebook can feel … almost indulgent.

But here’s what I’ve come to believe:

Thinking isn’t the reward you earn after the work is finished. Thinking is the work. In fact, it may be the highest-value work you do all week.

Because every thoughtful decision has the power to save hours of unnecessary effort later.

Your Most Valuable Resource Isn’t Time

For years, I thought time was my scarcest resource.

Now I think it’s attention.

Time keeps moving whether we notice it or not. Attention, however, is something we have to choose to give.

Every email claims a little. Every notification asks for a little more. Each interruption quietly whispers, “Look at me first.”

Before long, we’re spending our days wherever the loudest voice points us.

That’s exactly why a CEO Meeting matters.

It’s not simply protecting an hour on your calendar. It’s protecting your ability to decide where your attention belongs before the world decides for you.

Better Questions Create Better Decisions

One of the simplest shifts I’ve made during my CEO Meetings is changing the questions I ask.

Instead of asking, “What do I need to get done?” I ask,

What deserves my attention?

Instead of “What’s next?” I ask,

What’s most important?

Instead of “How can I fit more into today?” I ask,

What would move my business forward most?

The answers aren’t always dramatic. Sometimes they’re surprisingly small.

But they’re intentional.

And intentional decisions have a way of compounding over time.

Leadership Begins Before You Act

Here’s something I’m learning:

Employees react.

CEOs pause.

Employees respond to whatever arrives next.

CEOs decide what deserves their attention before the day begins.

Employees spend the day pulling weeds.

CEOs make sure the tomatoes get tended first.

Employees spend the day pulling weeds. CEOs make sure the tomatoes get tended first.

Now, before every fellow gardener writes to tell me that weeds can quickly take over a garden if you ignore them … you’re absolutely right.

Sometimes the weeds really are urgent. Leave them long enough, and they’ll steal water, nutrients, and sunlight from the plants you’re trying to grow. They need to be addressed. They need to get pulled.

But they can’t be allowed to set your day’s agenda for you. What gets your attention needs to be your decision.

Business works the same way.

Some interruptions genuinely deserve your immediate attention. Things like a client emergency, a family need, or a technology problem that brings everything to a halt are unplanned but can’t be ignored.

Leadership isn’t pretending those things don’t exist.

Leadership is choosing them consciously instead of allowing every unexpected interruption to make the decision for you.

Leadership isn’t pretending interruptions don’t exist. Leadership is choosing them consciously instead of allowing them to choose for you.

That’s a very different way of leading.

And it protects what matters most.

Action Step

During your next CEO Meeting, make two simple lists.

On one side of your notebook, write down everything competing for your attention.

On the other side, write the three things that would make the biggest difference if they received your focused attention this week.

Then ask yourself one simple question:

What would the CEO of YOU, Inc. choose?

You may discover that the loudest priorities aren’t actually the most important ones.

And just like in the garden, you’ll probably still pull a few weeds this week.

But before you do …

Make sure you’ve tended the tomatoes first.

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🌿 Your Next Leadership Step

Ready to put this week’s lesson into practice?

This month’s CEO Meeting Agenda: A Weekly Leadership Check-In for YOU, Inc. is designed to help you protect your thinking time and lead your business with greater clarity and intention.

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