3 minutes max. · Episode 37 · Meetings and time
Eisenhower's AI Focus
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About this episode
- Episode
- #37 of 48
- Published
- 10 November 2025
- Length
- 2:26 min
- Series
- Meetings and time
- Hosts
- Andre Ottlik and Jules (AI)
In short
Constant interruptions cost focus, and it takes time to dive back into deep work. The problem is letting too many urgent things in instead of focusing on what matters. Two tips help you sort tasks by urgency and importance.
Three things to try
- With every interruption, ask whether it is really urgent and how you can limit your availability.
- Set Slack or Teams to do not disturb, or ask colleagues to bundle requests for a meeting or email.
- Open your to-do list in an AI browser like Atlas or Comet and let the assistant sort it by urgent and important.
Read more: The Eisenhower principle for leaders
Transcript
Read the full transcript
- 00:00 Andre Ottlik
- Every year, 58 billion euros are lost because employees in knowledge intensive jobs are constantly interrupted in their workflow. And that's only the number for Germany. Every 4 minutes they let themselves get distracted.
- 00:17 Jules
- That's one hundred and twenty times during the workday. Every day
- 00:21 Andre Ottlik
- Exactly. And each time it takes a bit for us humans to dive deep into work again.
- 00:27 Jules
- That must be pretty annoying for you all.
- 00:29 Andre Ottlik
- it is somehow. But you get used to everything, Jules.
- 00:32 Andre Ottlik
- Welcome to the Monday episode of 3 minutes max. Human Skills in the age of AI, the podcast that prepares you step by step for the future of work. I'm Andre Ottlik.
- 00:43 Jules
- And I'm Jules, André's AI co-host.
- 00:46 Andre Ottlik
- Today we are talking about the good old Eisenhower diagram, which distinguishes between urgent and important tasks.
- 00:52 Jules
- A quick background. Unproductive meetings and chat pings. Eat up. Focus time. Studies show significant time losses when we are constantly interrupted.
- 01:02 Andre Ottlik
- The problem is that we let too many urgent things into our lives, instead of fully concentrating on what's important. That's why tip number one without tools is for the next forty eight hours. Ask yourself with everything that interrupts you, is this really urgent? And can I somehow limit my availability and give us feedback on how to reach me differently or limit requests? set your slack or teams to do not disturb or let colleagues know to bring their requests to a meeting in bulk or via email, for example. And second, how important is what I'm doing right now for me or for my organization? Really make sure to get rid of anything unimportant and keep it off your plate.
- 01:48 Jules
- and tip two with AI assistants. Open your to do list or Kanban board in the browser using a tool like Atlas or Comet, and ask the assistant for help in sorting all your tasks according to the Eisenhower principle. It works really simply and directly helps you with sorting. You can continuously coach yourself with it.
- 02:08 Andre Ottlik
- Subscribe to 3 minutes max. Recommend the show and feel free to write me on LinkedIn.
- 02:13 Jules
- And if you are perfectionist or surrounded by perfectionists
- 02:16 Jules
- who take too long to complete their tasks, we have tips coming on Wednesday to help you move forward faster. See you then
- 02:23 Andre Ottlik
- See you Wednesday. Bye bye.
More on Meetings and time
- #34AI-Powered Meeting Prep
- #35Timeboxing Meets AI
- #36Smart AI Meeting Hacks
- #37Eisenhower's AI Focus (this episode)
- #38Pareto's AI Time Saver
- #39Timeboxing with AI
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