Boosting Productivity with the 3rd Space Technique

By Tony Silvio – Executive Coach Perth | Midas Mindset

What if productivity isn’t about what you do—but how you move between what you do?

If you’ve read previous blogs, you already know I don’t buy into hustle for the sake of it. Burnout disguised as drive? That’s old news.

The truth is, most professionals aren’t underperforming because they’re lazy. They’re overloaded between roles—leader to manager, client call to sales pitch, parent to partner.

And the cost? Fragmented focus. Short fuses. Constant mental carry-over.

That’s where the 3rd Space Technique becomes a game-changer. It doesn’t add more to your plate—it clears the crumbs between courses.

Let’s unpack how this tool gives your brain the clean slate it’s quietly craving.

The Real Drag on Productivity Isn’t the Workload

You’re already doing the work. But what’s costing you is the emotional leftovers from the last thing you did.

• You carry frustration from a team meeting into a client conversation.

• You walk into your home still mentally arguing with your inbox.

• You start the next task still mentally half in the last one.

These micro-leaks don’t just waste energy—they steal clarity.

The fix? Build a simple pause between tasks. That’s your 3rd space.

Step 1: Identify Your Key Transitions

The 3rd space isn’t something you force into every moment of your day.

Instead, focus on the hinges. The parts of your day that swing between high pressure and high impact.

Ask yourself:

• When do I feel most reactive?

• Where do I tend to over-carry emotion or stress?

• Which transitions leave me drained, even if the tasks are simple?

That’s where the work is. Not more to do—just more to notice.

Step 2: Create Your 3-Step Mental Reset

This technique is less about time and more about attention redirection. Here’s a version that works well for clients I coach (and myself):

🔁 Reflect:

What just happened? What am I still holding onto? Name it. Don’t judge it.

🧘 Rest:

What needs to soften? This might be your breath, your shoulders, or your internal pace.

🚀 Reset:

What energy, mindset or posture do I want to carry forward? Anchor it with a phrase, image, or shift in body position.

This takes 90 seconds. It clears hours of mental clutter. That’s stress-free productivity in real life.

Step 3: Don’t Over-Script It—Make It Yours

The power of the 3rd space isn’t in complexity. It’s in ownership.

Maybe your reset includes standing up and stretching. Maybe it’s sipping a glass of water while breathing slowly. Maybe it’s switching playlists between projects.

The point is: your brain needs a bridge between moments. If you’re not building one, you’re leaping—and hoping you don’t slip.

Step 4: Train It Like a Micro-Habit

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I’m all about repeatable, low-resistance behaviour.

The 3rd space works best when you train it into your rhythm:

• End of meeting → Reflect, breathe, reset

• After emails → One minute walk

• Before school pick-up → Ground yourself with a question like, “How do I want to show up at home?”

This is how the best mindset coaches in Perth help professionals shift from reactive to intentional—without burning out or breaking routines.

Step 5: Extend the Practice to Home Transitions

This is where it gets personal.

If you walk out of your office still carrying that 3pm frustration… your relationships feel it.Your kids, your partner, your energy all feel the residue.

So use the 3rd space before walking through the front door.Use it before the gym. Before dinner. Before switching from “doing” to being.

It’s not about perfection. It’s about presence with boundaries.

That’s professional balance—not just better scheduling.

Clarity Isn’t Something You Schedule—It’s Something You Protect

Let’s be honest: you don’t need another productivity hack.You need mental clean space between the things that matter.

The 3rd space gives you that.It’s the breath between conversations. The blink between roles.The pause that lets you step in, not drag through.

If you want to operate from grounded clarity—not reactive autopilot—this is where it begins.

Ready to Embed the 3rd Space Into Your Professional Toolkit?

If you want to be someone who leads with clarity, adapts with calm, and performs with energy—you need more than willpower. You need tools that make space before the overwhelm hits.

Through Executive Coaching and Leadership Development Training in Perth, I help professionals embed systems like this into their everyday rhythm. It’s practical. It’s personal. And it works.

👉 Click here to reset how you move through your day

Tony Silvio | Executive Coach Perth – Midas Mindset

Because in a world addicted to speed, your edge is how well you manage the space between.