[TRANSCRIPT OF VIDEO IF YOU PREFER TO READ]
Hey guys, I want to understand what focus means to you. If you’re anything like me your day goes in ebbs and flows and you have moments where you’re super focused and then moments when you could be sitting there for an hour or two and actually really not achieving much and not being productive.
So what do you do when those times happen and how do you actually make sure that you’ve actually got that focus in your day ahead of time, so that you’re not trying to muddle your way through that unproductive part of your day.
I’m Kristy Smith from Virtual Elves, and I run an outsourcing company that sources virtual assistants for small businesses. But more than that it’s about getting you that time and about helping you to understand how to leverage that time to be most productive and use that time wisely for things that really matter.
Now the things that really matter are different for everybody, they could be looking after your health and fitness, it could be spending time with your family, it could be focusing on more profitable and engaging parts of your business, the things that really only you should be able to do.
But I’m talking about focus today because, like I said my day today, I’ve had a super productive morning where I smashed out two hours of work, building landing pages and getting a sales funnel ready and I felt really great. But after that high and it’s almost like I had that endorphin rush of this amazing incredible work that I was doing to, then, when I got to the end of that I was exhausted, and I just couldn’t move on to that next project, I couldn’t put that down and then just move into something else. My thing that I decided to do was to get outside, get outside and go for a walk, get outside and clear my head so that I can go back and have another one or two hour stint where I can actually be productive and give myself that focus that I really need to do the next part of the process that I need to do.
Are you sitting at your desk now and feeling a bit lethargic and shifting papers around and not really achieving anything and not knowing what to do next?
I have days like that all the time and the beauty about for example, delegating some work and actually working out what it is you need is that you can actually grab some of that stuff and give it to somebody else, so it’s not shifting around on your desk and being put to the end of your to-do list, or you’re not having to find a time when you feel motivated enough to actually tackle that task.
So here’s a challenge for you.
What I want you to think about is how are you going to get more focused in your day, what are the things that you’re actually going to do that will bring that focus back in for you once you’ve had that spurt of great productivity. When you get down into that lull what are those activities that are going to help you bring it back up again and push it back up again. That’s the first thing I want you to think about.
The second thing I want you to think about is, what are some of the activities that I could give to somebody else, that someone else can do for me and I don’t even need to entertain the thought of doing them myself anymore, doesn’t even come on to your to-do list, it goes onto somebody else’s and you don’t need to think about it, because I think sometimes a lack of focus comes from being overwhelmed and having way too many things to do. I’m sure you agree with me on that. When you’re feeling really overwhelmed and you’re rushing from one thing to another and you’re trying to multitask and don’t we all know that multitasking is the end of everything, it doesn’t work, it doesn’t give you the focus that you need to actually achieve those goals quickly.
So what would give you that focus is actually shifting some of that stuff out so that you’re not so overwhelmed, so that you’ve got the time in between your blocks of activity and productive time to get outside, go for a walk, refresh your mind, listen to some music, have a break, move away from your desk so that you’re actually, when you’re coming back to it, you’re clear again, you’re a hundred percent focused on what you need to do, and not thinking about everything else.
A couple of other tips for you.
First thing is, turn that email off. Actually get rid of it while you’ve blocked out that productive time to do an activity. So say you’re blocking out in your diary and this is tip number two, block it out in your diary. If you’ve got an activity that you need to get done, so for example for me today I wanted to get a sales page up, I wanted to build a landing page and get it, I knew exactly what I wanted to have done, so I knew that I could get it in an hour, and just smash it out. I switched off my Facebook, all of my social media notifications, I switched off all of my email notifications, there were no distractions what so ever, and that allowed me to actually smash out what I needed. I put on some music in the background so that I was really calm and focused and on task. The only way that you’re going to really focus and get clear on what you need to do.
So, two things that you can do straight away is block the time out in your diary, delegate some of your work and switch off all the distractions.
Anyway, just a rambling of things from me today while I take my break and then I’m going to go back to my desk and I’m going sit down and work out exactly what my next task is and be super focused.
I hope you’re having a really great day and if you haven’t been so focused feel free give me buzz and I’m happy to talk through some other strategies for you. But focus is the key to everything, if you can be focused then you’ll move forward with the actions that you need to take. The minute you’re in overwhelm and you’re trying to do everything yourself and your brain is a bit of a fuzz, it’s not going to work.
Alright guys, Kristy Smith of Virtual Elves, I’ll speak to you soon.
