Every so often, you’ve got something big that needs doing.

Maybe it’s that brief for the appeals court. Maybe it’s the order that is now three months overdue. Maybe it’s an agreement in a high-asset case. There’s nearly always something on your list that you can’t do between phone calls, client meetings, and staff interruptions.

How can you get it done?

Lock Yourself in Your Office

Can you lock yourself in your office, turn off the ringer, and disconnect from the Internet? For a variety of reasons, I can’t. You may be in the same boat.

Hide Out at Home

Okay, what about blocking off a morning, or even a full day, and staying at home? Again, disconnect from the Web, close the door, kick out the dog, and be sure the kids are at school. Does that work for you? It doesn’t for me. I find myself traipsing back and forth to the refrigerator and finding diversions along the way. Home is not where I get big things done.

So the office won’t work, and the house is out of the question. What are the options?

Take a Working “Vacation”

Years ago, my dad would lock himself in a hotel room—usually down in the Florida Keys—and get the work done there. He prepared for his biggest trials that way. I’ve actually tried the same thing in a Hampton Inn around the corner from our house, and it worked. Hampton Inn rooms are kind of like isolation chambers, and there’s not much there to distract you once you use up all the little packets that come with the coffee machine.

Paying for a hotel room seems excessive. Isn’t there a better way?

Improve Focus With Java

Another alternative, and this is the one I use most often, is the coffee shop. What would I do without Starbucks?

I tell my team where I’ll be and ask them to leave me alone. I pick a Starbucks where I won’t bump into anyone I know. I find a quiet table. I face the wall. I turn off my cell phone. I put in my earbuds, and I turn off the Wi-Fi.

Then, if this is a big job, I get caffeinated. I’m usually a decaf guy, so caffeine affects me in a big way. Sure, my hands are trembling, but I focus like a laser beam, and the thoughts come so fast that I can barely type fast enough.

We are off to the races and headed for finishing the project. Nice.

Of course, things get tense as progress is made. I’m tempted to leave and go to lunch. I’m tempted to turn on the Wi-Fi and check the e-mail. I’m dying to know whether we made any money in my absence, and the pull of the e-mail is intense.

But I don’t do it. I stay on task. Before I even enter the Starbucks store, I make a promise to myself that I won’t leave until I’m finished. In fact, I promise myself that I won’t get out of my chair until I’m finished (except for potty breaks).

I gut it out until it’s done. It’s ugly. It’s unpleasant. It’s stressful.

And then it’s over. It’s finished.

Finishing is so sweet.

Reconnecting to the World

Then I hook back up. I find out what’s been happening in the world and at the office. I check Facebook.

Did I miss anything? Did anything melt down in disaster back in the office? Did we go broke, file for bankruptcy, and get fired by most of our clients?

Nope, things were fine. The world kept spinning, and the office kept running. No one really missed me. In fact, sometimes it feels like things go more smoothly without me. Sometimes it feels like by getting out of the way, I let people rise to the occasion and deal with issues on their own. They usually do things right, they feel responsible, and they get credit for handling it without me.

When you’ve got something big that needs doing, get going, get away, and get the satisfaction of having it behind you.