I’ll cut the small talk and just be honest, I have been lacking focus. I’m easily distracted and that has really killed my productivity. That’s why things have been lacking here in the blog department. The slightest thing will throw me off course and it’s hard for me to get back on this figurative road. Do you know how many times I’ve jumped off this blog post already? I’ve only typed three sentences.
I decided my office today would be Panera. You know, because it’s easy not to get distracted here. Wrong! Whever my focus has gone, I would like to return now. It’s time for me to go through bootcamp to get things back on track.
It’s only fitting that I share with you some of my tips for gaining focus:
1. Clean up the clutter. This could be the actual physcial clutter in your areas: home, work and car. Sometimes the actual clutter will translate to your overall being and create a chaotic state, even if that state doesn’t really exist. Also, it might be time to clean up some of that mental and emotional clutter. There may be too many things that are left unresolved that are just taking up too much brain space.
2. Reprioritize. Sit down and make a list of priorities so that you know what is important to you at this current time. Priorities change over time and space and that’s ok. This is just a way of realizing what is important to you right this moment. Doing this will give you a tangible thing of things that are important in your life and things that just need to be taken care of.
3. Reset your schedule. It’s time for a reboot. It’s time to reorganize your schedule so you can be productive throughout the day. Do ever have those days that you feel so busy but feel like you have accomplished nothing? That’s what I’m trying to avoid right now. If you’re dedicating your time to something, make sure you make it count. I’m most productive in the morning, I should put my most important tasks in the morning when I work best and the non-important things toward the end of the day when I don’t feel like doing much. I really shouldn’t be scheduling important meetings in the evening or working on major projects after 4pm.
It’s much more than just scheduling when to do something, but blocks of time you should be working on something so you’re not jumping from one task to another without completing the pervious task. It’s time waster! Therefore, it’s important to stick to the schedule so you know how long it takes to complete certain tasks and then you can actually plan out your time.
4. Limit the social media. I don’t know about you, but social media is a big time suck for me. It’s like a rabbit hole. The next thing you know you’ve spent hours looking at nothing on the computer. It sounds funny coming from me because I make half my income from social media, but social media can cripple your day if you don’t use it with some restraint. It’s every easy to get distracted by the many social media outlets out there. Do you really know how much time you’re spending on social media? It’s easy to lose track of it all. Just be a little bit mindful of this and how distracting it can be to your life.
I think my biggest problem with lacking focus is not scheduling a little bit of down time in the day. I never really have a moment to decompress from the long days and I should get better about that. That time is especially important on the busy days when I get bogged down in lots of tasks. Remember, it’s important to make time for yourself.
I really do hope my tips for gaining focus help someone, somwhere out there in the world. Don’t forget to leave a comment below to let me know.
Are you easily districted? What is the biggest distraction in your life?
