We’ve recently shared our views on the importance of taking rest and finding time to unwind. It’s necessary to help prevent burnout. But what happens when you cross over in to the complacency zone? Where you come back from vacation or a long weekend, only to be met with an exhausting heat wave and your vision is just a tad, well, off? Yeah, us too. It’s so easy to get distracted during these Dog Days of Summer, but it’s really important to get revved up and ready for business.
Why You Need To Stay Focused
- Momentum – Think about Newton’s First Law of Motion: The tendency of a body in motion is to keep moving; the tendency of a body at rest is to sit still. This is going to apply to your business as well! So, for every break you take, you lose a bit of momentum. It’s okay, but now you’ve got to get back on the track.
- Everyone else has ADD – It’s true; in the summer, everyone gets more and more distracted — all the more reason for you to be the one who is laser focused. You may just get the big things done that others are letting slide.
- Willpower – The truth is, just getting started on tasks is the hardest part. So, go ahead and flex your willpower muscles to remind yourself that you are still THAT guy/gal with the most discipline. There are breaks and there is procrastination, and discipline makes it easier to recognize the difference.
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How To Get Your Focus Back
- Outline – Make an outline, or list or pipeline of what you actually need to get done for the day. Then move out to the week. Look at how you can tackle your biggest obstacle first and get it it out the way. If you compete your whole list for the day, move on to what you have for the week.
- Ignore email – Yes, let your inbox sit for at least the first twenty minutes every morning. It is full, full I tell you, of distractions and rabbit holes so leave it alone until you’ve mapped out your day. Better yet, leave it alone until you’ve completed your first priority!
- Quit Multitasking – There is a false sense of accomplishment that comes from multitasking. We tend to feel superhuman when we can say we knocked out 5 things at once today. Yet, if our energy is spent all over the place, it’s not really as effective as giving 100% to a single task at a time.
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If you want more on the psychology of productivity, check out this article.
And if you would like to know what highly productive (i.e focused) people do during their workday, read this.
Now, I leave you with this wonderfully inspiring image of a man who is clearly focused on his game:
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