This Month’s Topic: Focus
This month’s topic – Focus – is a valuable skill when building a sustainable business and your life. We will explore various aspects of Focus throughout the month.
“The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire, not things we fear.”
~ Brian Tracy
The Power of Focus
The Fourth Quarter is rapidly unfolding. For business owners, this quarter has significant importance and pressure. For some, it is their last chance to hit the goals they set for the year. It often presents the opportunity for major events, sales, and customer interaction. The pressure of the year-end and assessment of their accomplishments and financial status creates pressure.
The Fourth Quarter is filled with big distractions – holidays, sports events, and of course Halloween. All of these and more can pull you away from your business, usurp your concentration, and derail your best efforts. How can you stay focused during the Fourth Quarter, deal with distractions, move toward your goals, and prepare for the new year? The rest of this blog post offers suggestions to help you deal with Fourth Quarter distractions.
Focus Unlocks Your Full Potential
The power of focus is the ability to direct your attention and energy towards a specific task or goal, without being easily distracted or swayed by external factors. It is the key to unlocking your full potential and achieving success in business and in life.
When you are focused, you can work efficiently and effectively. Your productivity increases as you concentrate only on the task at hand. When you are focused, your thoughts become clearer. It is easier to deal with difficult tasks or assignments, make better decisions easier and faster, solve problems, and produce high-quality work. This results in a greater sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.
When you are in a state of complete focus, time flies by because you are completely absorbed in what you are doing. As a result, you become more creative and innovative. It also helps your self-discipline and self-control. You are less likely to give in to distractions or procrastination.
Tips to Develop Your Power of Focus
- Determine your priorities – Figure out what is the priority or goals you want to accomplish. This can be for a single task or for a specific period. These may be short-term or long-term. Create a detailed Action Plan to achieve your priorities. Write your action plan down. Use it to determine what you will focus on each day.
- Create a work area that is free of distractions – Place your phone where you can’t see it. Move clutter and materials you don’t need to complete your task out of view.
- Determine a set amount of time to focus – If you are working on a task, set a specific amount of time you will focus on only that item. 10 minutes, 20 minutes, whatever amount of time you are comfortable setting. At the end of that time, move around, stretch, go for a walk, and determine when you will be back on task.
- Chunk big tasks into smaller tasks – Large tasks can cause overwhelm. If you begin to feel overwhelmed, chunk tasks/problems to solve/whatever you are dealing with into smaller bite-size tasks. Then track your progress. Record what you’ve accomplished. Review your progress. Celebrate your accomplishments.
- Manage your energy – Eat healthy. Hydrate. Get more sleep. Reduce your stress.
- Use productivity tools – Use digital tools to help you track your productivity, block distracting websites, provide reminders, and keep you on track.
- Use time blocking – Map out your day/week to work on certain tasks during a specific time. Stick to your time map. Block out work time. Block out time for interruptions, meetings, emails, etc.
- Practice single-tasking – Avoid multitasking. Pick one task and work on it until you have completed it or have hit your designated break time.
Maintaining Your Big Picture Focus Month-to-Month
So often we overlook planning for real life. We focus on planning for our business and neglect to consider how real-life events will impact our business efforts. Here are tips to help you maintain your big-picture focus – while navigating real-life events and responsibilities.
- Write down your big-picture priorities/goals – Keep the list where you can review it easily.
- Create your action plan to achieve your priorities/goals – Add details, timeframes, etc.
- Regularly review your action plan – Each quarter determines what you need to do to move towards your goals. Then weekly, review and assess what you’ve accomplished.
- Plan for real life – Map your action plan on your business calendar. Block out days/weeks when you will be “distracted” with real-life events. Adjust your business calendar accordingly.
- Use planning tools – to help you map out your daily, weekly, quarterly, and annual tasks/goals/priorities.
Reflect on your progress – Adjust as needed and celebrate your successes.
Start developing your long-term mindset today by setting long-term goals and focusing on the process of achieving them. Embrace uncertainty and take calculated. Download my Guide to Strategic Planning™ to help you learn more about thinking long-term about your strategy and how the strategic planning process can help you clarify your short-term and long-term goals.
Sign up for my online course, Accelerate Your Business Growth Using Strategic Planning™. The next session begins on November 7th, 2023. The activities throughout the course will help you develop your strategic thinking skills.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/center-for-strategic-change/ and https://www.facebook.com/CenterForStrategicChange
- The Power of Focus - October 31, 2023
- Prioritize Tasks and Embrace Flexibility - August 18, 2023
- “Staying the Course” when Disruptions Interrupt - August 9, 2023
