Would you say you are a focused person? Do you want more focus?
When we live and work with focus, we get more things done, and we get things done more effectively.
Focus helps us in all areas of life. When we focus on our health, marriage and work we see the results we want.
As I closed a coaching call I encouraged my client, and affirmed my belief that they would reach their goals. They were taken back, yet appreciative. I just said ‘All you have to do is focus. Know what you want and focus on doing it’.
I have been a huge Lakers fan my whole life. So obviously I have been a fan of Kobe Bryant. One of the things that helped Kobe be such a dominant player was his intense focus. During Game 1 of the NBA finals against the rival Boston Celtics, famed comedian Christ Rock was sitting next to Kobe making jokes. Kobe did not even notice him. That is how focused he was.
So, what is focus and how do we increase it.
To define focus, lets use this dictionary definition: ‘an act of concentrating interest or activity on something’
So how we can we increase our focus?
#1 Get Clear on what you want
To focus on something, you need to know what it is. Concentration on an interest or activity requires that there be one. Too often we find ourselves doing things mindlessly. Focus requires Clarity. We have to get clear about what our objectives are and what we are trying to achieve.
Once we know what we want to achieve and have a clear sense of it, we can concentrate on it.
So begin here. Know your desired outcome and pursue it with singular focus and energy. Stop working mindlessly and start working purposefully towards a clearly defined result.
#2 Slow down
Hurried work is rarely effective work. John Wooden, the famed UCLA basketball coach who is renowned for his leadership said “be quick, but don’t hurry’. When we do things in a rushed, frantic, and panicked pace we tend to do things sloppily.
Like the kid who has to do the dishes before they can go outside and play. Those dishes are rarely sanitary due to the pace at which they were done, which affected the attention given to the task.
Doing things in a rush leads to mistakes because we are moving so fast that we overlook important parts of the job. When we get into a calm and easy paced rhythm, our work is much better. We think better, work better and produce better.
#3Deal with distractions
This is a biggie! Why? Distractions are all around us. Some of us are like Dug the talking dog from the movie up. One squirrel and we lose focus.
Have you ever been in the midst of an important project, and then somethings interrupts you and you lose your momentum and never really seem to regain it? Maybe it is a phone call, a text message, an unexpected interruption like an office visit…
It can be anything. And honestly, even if we cannot predict and control everything about our day, we can at least be prepared to deal with distractions when they come.
3.1 Identify distractions
Before we can deal with distractions, we need to identify them.
What are the things that set you off course and kill your momentum? It is vital and necessary to identify what these things are. I think for many of us they come in digital forms.
Brian Tracy notes that what when we respond to electronic interruptions such as emails, texts or phone calls it takes around 17 minutes to get back to our work.
Think about that! For every time we check email, facebook, news or instagram we not only lose the time we spent doing that, but also over 15 minutes of time to get back into a good work flow. That can easily add up hours in a day, and that is just the readjustment time!
3.2 Eliminate Distractions
Knowing what our distractions are, we must ruthlessly eliminate them. Maybe that means hanging a sign on your office door that says do not disturb. Or telling your secretary you are unavailable, or putting your phone on airplane mode, or in your drawer and turned off.
Office space is also important. Be sure your office is not full of potential distractions.
#4 Work with set deadlines
Time management is an important key to working efficiently. This is an area that we are always needing to grown in, because time is limited and unforgiving. When we get good with our time, we work with more efficiency.
We can use the tyranny of time to our advantage. Setting deadlines on our calendars gives us several advantages in in our work:
It creates a greater awareness of the task that needs to be done
It provides a sense of urgency to get the work done in time
It helps us organize our activiities accordingly.
#5 Develop the ability to say no
Assertive people know how to say no. The fact is, if you take on too many things, you will never be able to have the attention required to concentrate on what you do. One of the things I do when I coach people is help them to identify what things they should stop committing to, and then create ways to eliminate these from their list.
We get more done when we do less, but do it better. Free time is not a sign of laziness. Lazy people do not have free time, they just never work and get things done. Diligent people on the other hand have free time because they work hard and smart. They work on the things that matter and do them well. They do not allow their list to get cluttered with inconsequential tasks.
Good things are not necessarily necessary things, and can clutter up and squeeze out the important things.
Reduce. Reduce. Reduce.
#6 Do one thing at at time
In Nancy Napiers article ‘the myth of multi tasking’, she shows how research shows that our brains do not really do things simultaneously, but actually switches back and forth between tasks. Thus we are in a constant state of starting and stopping.
When we try to multi-task, we cannot apply the focus we need on our work.
Like Confucius said: “The man who chases two rabbits, catches neither.”
The fact is we can only do one thing at a time. If we want to work with greater focus, we need to keep the main thing the main thing. Or maybe we should say, keep the one thing the only thing.
#7 Drill down, dig in and finish the job
Basically, go all in. If you are committed to finishing the job, you will have the focus you need. When you have the focus you need, you will finish the job.
Brian Tracy reminds us that the more we discipline ourselves to concentrate single-mindedly on one thing until it is done, the more energy we have, and this in turn leads to us getting more things done.
Determining to see something through to completion will provide you with the concentration needed to get it done.
Here is a good acronym for focus:
F - follow
O -one
C- course
U- until
S- success
In closing, focus is necessary. Focus is hard. But focus is achievable. Use these seven tips and watch not just your focus increase, but your efficiency and productivity.
Thanks for reading. I write on related motivational topics to productivity like personal vision, goal setting and time management to name a few. If you want to read more posts like this give me a follow… I will give you my best each post!
I also coach people, if you or someone you know are interested in being coached let me know in the comments and we can connect and pursue that further.
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