We schedule meetings with remarkable precision.
Thirty minutes to review slides. Fifteen minutes for a coffee catch-up. An hour blocked for “strategy” that becomes an email processing session interrupted by Slack notifications and the third “quick question” of the morning.
We defend our calendars from frivolous intrusions while sacrificing the very work that matters most.
The executive who never closes their door. The founder who responds to every ping within minutes. The leader who prides themselves on constant availability.
We mistake accessibility for effectiveness. We confuse responsiveness with leadership.
But here’s what Greg McKeown understood about essentialism: protecting the vital requires saying no to the trivial. Cal Newport proved that deep work doesn’t happen in the margins between interruptions. BJ Fogg showed us that tiny behaviors, compounded over time, create transformation.
Going dark isn’t abandonment. It’s preparation.
The pilot doesn’t take passenger requests during pre-flight checks. The surgeon doesn’t answer emails mid-operation. The architect doesn’t sketch breakthrough designs in a crowded hallway.
Leaders need space to think. To analyze. To craft solutions that address root causes rather than symptoms. To connect disparate pieces of information into a coherent strategy.
This doesn’t happen between meetings. It doesn’t happen while monitoring three screens and four communication channels. It doesn’t happen when we’re perpetually in reactive mode.
We schedule everything except what matters most: uninterrupted time to do the work only we can do.
The irony? Going dark makes us more helpful, not less. Better decisions. Clearer direction. Thoughtful solutions instead of rushed reactions.
Our teams don’t need us to be constantly available. They need us to be consistently excellent.
That requires going dark. Let them know you are going dark, and do it. Everyone will thank you.
