You try your best to concentrate on the task at hand, but something’s always pulling you away. Even simple tasks take way longer than you expect. You feel ineffective and frustrated. That’s why today we’re sharing tips to increase your focus so that you can become a productivity powerhouse.
TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:
[01:10] What is productivity?
[02:20] Having focus is important
[02:55] What are the consequences of not focusing?
[04:04] The benefits of increasing your focus
[04:35] The enemy of focus
[07:16] Tip 1 to increase your focus: plan ahead
[08:05] The benefits of having a plan
[08:41] Tip 2 to increase your focus: turn off notifications on your phone and computer
[09:21] The problem with notifications
[10:10] How to deal with notifications
[10:44] Tip 3 to increase your focus: stop multitasking
[13:30] Tip 4 to increase your focus: take care of yourself
[15:00] Final thoughts about focus
[16:11] Bloopers
[Theresa] I’m going to get us started today by making this statement right off the bat. The greater your focus, the greater your productivity. I’m gonna say that again. The greater your focus, the greater your productivity.
The greater your focus, the greater your productivity.
What is Productivity?
Let’s take a second to talk about what productivity is so that we’re all on the same page. When you’re being productive in your business, that means you’ve set clear goals, you’re doing things that will help you accomplish those objectives and you’re efficient at doing those things.
Another important part of being productive is output. Let’s face it, you can have effective strategies and efficient systems, but if you’re not doing the work and getting things done, then you’re not being productive.
I’ve had many unproductive days. I make that aggressive “to do” list only to get to the end of the day to discover that I’ve accomplished nothing. Has that ever happened to you, Meghan?
[Meghan] Ah yes, the aggressive to-do list, I know it well. I hate wasting time, and I used to think that a to-do list was all I needed to be more productive. At first, it feels like the to-do list is what makes you productive and successful. Over time, you realize that a to-do list is one part of a bigger plan.
Having Focus is Important
[Theresa] Right. A major part of that bigger plan is focus. Focus is a key component of success. It’s equal parts planning and concentration. In other words, it’s necessary to HAVE a focus and to be able TO focus. Make sense?
[bctt tweet=”Focus is a key component of success. It’s equal parts planning and concentration. That means it’s necessary to HAVE a focus and to be able TO focus.” username=”@TheresaCifali”]
It starts with setting clear goals. Once you’ve established those goals, it’s easy to see what work you need to do. When you know what work to do, then it requires dedication and it demands attention.
What are the Consequences of not Focusing?
[Meghan] While what you said about planning and concentration seems simple enough, most of us are not focused enough. Being unfocused–or distracted–has serious consequences.<
Let’s talk about those for a minute. Being unfocused and distracted means that you:
- Waste time on tasks that are unimportant or unnecessary
- Approach everything you do with the same sense of urgency
- Fill your day with other people’s priorities
- Choose your daily tasks based on what’s easy or keeps you busiest
- Procrastinate
Of course, as we know, there are emotional consequences too. The emotional stuff could be a topic all on its own! But, the point is that lacking focus affects you negatively on multiple levels.
You can’t expect to be productive without first increasing your focus. Thankfully, there are plenty of steps you can take to do that. Once you’re better focused, you’ll give your productivity a massive boost.
You can’t expect to be productive without first increasing your focus.
The Benefits of Increasing Your Focus
[Theresa] Yep. Increased productivity has its own set of benefits. You’ll save time and reduce unnecessary stress, but also:
- You’ll work faster.
- The quality of your work will increase.
- Decision-making gets easier.
- Your clarity will improve.
- Boundaries are easier to set and honor.
- Effectiveness improves.
The Enemy of Focus
[Theresa] With that said, if increased focus leads to better productivity, why do you struggle so much?
I would argue that the lack of productivity doesn’t stem from having too much to do. Rather, the problem is that we are too distracted.
If comparison is the thief of joy, then distraction is the thief of focus and productivity!
[bctt tweet=”If comparison is the thief of joy, then distraction is the thief of focus and productivity!” username=”@TheresaCifali”]
[Meghan] Good point! The competition for your attention is greater than ever. There’s no shortage of distractions and things that compete for your attention like:
- cell phones
- social media
- other people in your home
- clients, and
- shows–especially whatever Netflix series you happen to be binge-watching!
Even with the best intentions, you can fall victim to the distraction trap. You know it’s happened to you! It’s happened to all of us. Everyone is trying to fight distraction even if they aren’t aware of it.
[Theresa] Yes, that’s so true! Think about how your day can go. As you start replying to an email, you realize you need to grab a link. So, you head over to your browser, where Facebook is already open. You’re curious about the rant appearing at the top of your newsfeed, so you read through it. Then you continue to read through the 100 comments below it. One thing leads to another. Before you know it, an hour has passed and you’ve ended up on Pinterest looking at motivational quotes. You’ve completely forgotten about the email. Yeah? I bet you can relate!
[Meghan] I can definitely relate! So, there are several repercussions when you get distracted like that. The obvious one is that you lost an hour of time that you could have been doing something productive. And, guess what? That rant and those comments affected your mood. So, now you’ve wasted valuable brainpower and energy on something that doesn’t deserve your attention. And, if that email reply you were sending was time-sensitive, well, that would create a whole other set of issues.
But, we’ve got some strategies and tactics to help you minimize distractions!
YAY!
Theresa, let’s start with your first tip.
Tips to Increase Your Focus
Tip 1 to Increase Your Focus: Plan Ahead
[Theresa] Meghan, my first tip probably won’t surprise you. Can you guess?
[Meghan] Hmmm…would it happen to be planning?
[Theresa] How did you know? I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face, you have to plan. So, tip #1 is to plan ahead.
It’s not enough to have a goal. You have to create a plan around it. The plan is the first step in minimizing distractions.
When you plan, and only then, you can identify the actual activities and tasks that you should put time and effort into. When you don’t, then every idea seems like a good idea and it’s easy to get pulled off your path onto a wild tangent.
The Benefits of Having a Plan
[Theresa] Having a plan increases motivation. Imagine starting your day knowing not only what you need to get done, but why it matters. Understanding how your actions are moving you towards your goals is exciting.
Planning improves confidence. It feels good to look back at the end of the day and know for certain that you’ve made headway on your goals.
And your plan acts as a highly effective defense mechanism against diversions. So there will be no more guessing, no more shiny object syndrome, and a massive desire to get things done.
Tip 2 to Increase Your Focus: Turn Off Notifications on Your Phone and Computer
[Meghan] People do not understand the relationship between planning and focus, so I love that tip! We’re off to a great start.
You mentioned diversions, and heck, distractions are truly everywhere. I swear, we’re better trained than Pavlov’s dogs. Everything that dings, rings, chimes, beeps, and pops up gets a reaction. Notifications were initially designed to make our lives easier. But, now they eat up hours of our day and make us lazy.
So tip #2 is to turn off notifications on your phone and computer. I do this and it works.
The Problem with Notifications
Two bad things happen when you’re inundated by notifications.
First, notifications take you away from important, necessary work and switch your focus to things that aren’t important at all. One Facebook notification will kill your productivity. As a result, you lose momentum and your train of thought. Consequently, it takes time to get back into the flow you just lost. You may think a notification takes two minutes to deal with, but it likely steals more like 15 – 20 minutes of your time and productivity.
The second bad thing that happens when you have lots of notifications going off is that you become desensitized to them. Once that happens, you run the risk of missing your most important appointments and reminders simply because you stop paying attention.
How to Deal with Notifications
But, the good news is that YOU control your notifications.
Turn off notifications except for high priority calendar events.
Then, schedule times in your day to check things like emails, texts, and social media. And a bonus tip here is to set a timer when you’re performing these lower priority activities to keep you aware of your time.
Turn off notifications except for high priority calendar events. Then, schedule times in your day to check things like emails, texts, and social media.
No matter what, when it comes to notifications, make your devices work for you instead of allowing your devices to control you.
[bctt tweet=”When it comes to notifications, make your devices work for you instead of allowing your devices to control you. ” username=”@MeghanMonaghan1″]
Tip 3 to Increase Your Focus: Stop Multitasking
[Theresa] I love those suggestions. Until I turned off my notifications, I would often get pulled off on tangents that’d cause me to lose track of time and impede my progress. So, it was a real issue for me.
That and multitasking. Which brings me to tip #3. Stop multitasking. Knock it off.
Meghan, do you know the origins of the word multitasking?
[Meghan] I know what multitasking is, but I have no clue about the origin of the word or the concept. I’m sure you’ve told me before, but why don’t you give me a quick refresher?
[Theresa] Multitasking is a computer term. It refers to a computer working on many tasks simultaneously. The misconception is that the computer is doing two or more tasks at the same time. That’s not the case. What’s happening is the computer is switching super-fast between two or more tasks.
It’s called context switching. The human brain doesn’t work that way. Actually, you can only focus on one thing at a time. Multitasking is distraction amplified. Instead of the distraction coming from the outside, you’re choosing to do it to yourself.
Multitasking is distraction amplified. But instead of the distraction coming from somewhere or someone else, you’re choosing to do it to yourself.
When you multitask, you can’t give your full attention to any of the work you’re trying to get done. You divide your brain’s energy.
When you give 100% of your focus to one thing, you produce higher quality work, avoid errors, have more enjoyment, work faster, as well as reduce stress and overwhelm.
You can do one thing well or many things badly. To increase your focus, work on one task at a time. Get it over the finish line before moving onto the next task. That’s how you become more productive.
[bctt tweet=”Multitasking is a myth. You can either do one thing well or many things badly. Work on one task at a time to increase your focus and productivity.” via=”no”]
[Meghan] Yes, yes, yes! I don’t know about you, but I was raised to believe multitasking was a good thing. Before I went out on my own, I always put “able to multitask” on my resume and on my performance review. Because that’s something employers think is desirable. In the past few years, I discovered how detrimental context switching is. So, eliminating multitasking will definitely help with focus and productivity.
Tip 4 to Increase Your Focus: Take Care of Yourself
[Meghan] You mentioned brain energy, so now’s a good time for tip number four, which is to take care of yourself. To perform at your peak and maintain the energy you need to be productive, you need to take care of yourself.
When you’re tired, dehydrated or hungry, you can’t possibly expect to be able to focus on anything. Why? Because your body and brain are using up resources to deal with whatever is going on with your body, like fatigue or hunger. So, if you don’t take care of your personal needs, your work will take longer to do and it won’t be your best work.
Your body is always talking to you and giving you signs. It’s your responsibility to listen.
Your body is always talking to you and giving you signs. It’s your responsibility to listen.
I ran into an issue years ago where I was having a tough time concentrating. I’m sure my over 40 gals out there can appreciate this! I was not getting enough sleep and my attention level was crap. Long story short, I saw a functional medicine doctor, took some medical tests, and my hormones were out of whack. I had adrenal fatigue and some other issues. Once I sorted out my hormones, I felt so much better and was able to regain my productivity.
You get out of your body what you put into it. So, to do your best work in the most optimal amount of time, start with taking care of yourself and listening to your body.
[bctt tweet=”You get out of your body what you put into it. To do your best work in the most optimal amount of time, start with taking care of yourself and listening to your body.” username=”@MeghanMonaghan1″]
Final Thoughts About Increasing Your Focus
[Theresa] I’ll leave you with this final thought about focus. Remember, distractions come in all shapes and sizes. There are influences all around us of which we are not in control. You can’t do anything about that. But you can make a few changes in the areas that you can control.
We’d like to know. Which tip will you try to increase your focus? Let us know in the comments.
[Meghan] Please leave a comment below and suggest a topic for us to discuss. If we read your comment on our podcast, we’ll send you a $20 Amazon gift card!
