We live in a day & age where trying to focus is damn near impossible, but the truth of the matter is, most people don’t have trouble with focusing. They have trouble deciding.
Have you ever been pressed for a deadline & was able to make the deadline because you canceled out everything and focused on that ONE thing? How do you think that happened? Don’t worry, I can tell you. The deadline made the decision to cancel everything for you. And THAT’S the kind of energy you need when it comes to any task you have to complete.
I know I know…you’re wondering how in the hell do you trick your mind into making the decision to focus on one thing when there isn’t a deadline in place?! Here’s how:
1. Measure Your Progress
We often lose focus due to lack of feedback. Our minds want to know if we’re making progress towards our goals, and it’s impossible to know without setting practical checkpoints.
It’s proven that the things we measure are the things we strive to improve. For example, when I started tracking how long I could run, I ran for longer time frames. When I wrote down, the woman I knew I wanted to be, I started becoming that woman. And that’s when I realized that the tasks I measured were the tasks I remained focused on.
A lot of times we want to avoid measuring because we’re afraid what the numbers will tell us about ourselves, but the trick is to realize that measuring is not a judgement about who you are, it’s just feedback on where you are.
Measure because it will help you focus on the things that matter and ignore the things that don’t.
2. Let’s Focus on The Process
Another thing you can do to get long-term focus is to concentrate on processes, not events. For example, someone may think “If I lose 30 pounds, I’ll be in shape.” Or an entrepreneur may think, “If I make $10,000 a month, I’ll be set.” But if you study people who stay focus on their goals, you start to realize that it’s not the results that make them different. It’s the commitment to the process. They fall in love with the daily practice, not the individual event.
If you want to become significantly better at anything, you have to fall in love with the process of doing it. You have to fall in love with building the identity of someone who does the work.
Focusing on outcomes and goals is what we naturally do, but focusing on processes leads to more results over the long-term.
Before I wrap this up, a few more things I do on a daily basis to maintain my focus are:
1. I give every task a time frame. It takes away the anxiety of me thinking about when I’ll have time to do something, because it’s already scheduled.
2. No phones allowed! If someone calls me during the hours of 9-4, chances are, I’m not answering. Phones are huge distractions, so it’s best to leave them in another room.
3. I schedule tasks based on my energy. If it’s a task that will require me to deeply focus, I know I have to complete it early in the morning when I’m fully wired and my brain is well rested.
Hope this helps!
Comments