It’s easy for a day to get derailed from time-to-time and this previous post can help you save that day. But what do you do when your mind starts to drift? What do you do when you just can’t find the motivation to keep your focus on what you need to be doing?
I personally believe developing focus is harder than dieting. And all the distractions we have with texts, emails, Facebook, organizing your leads, cleaning that imaginary layer of dust off your desk can make your mind stray in no time.
What is Scattered Thinking?
I’m known to say “What was I saying?” or to lie in bed wondering about 27 things in the span of two minutes.
But the work I do is very focused work. As is what you do – you’re talking to people, helping your team achieve their goals, juggling different prospects at different stages of the Inviting Formula.
You probably have at least 53 thoughts going through your head in any quiet two minutes you can find.
How to End the Scatter
So, what do you do with all this scatter? How do you get back to focused and results-driven work? Here are a few tips on getting past the scattered thinking in just a few minutes.
- Whatever you do – don’t check your email. A study conducted by the U.S. Army and the University of California Irvine shows that when you check your email a few bad things happen: You change screens twice as often; you stay in a “high alert” state and your heart rate is more constant (not a good thing). Another study shows that checking email all the time is more damaging to your brain than smoking marijuana. So, if you want to get back to sharp, focused thinking – skip the inbox. The best way to deal with email – schedule two or three email sessions a day.
- Don’t go to Twitter or Facebook, either. I recently went on a Facebook diet. It had to be done. Anytime I had to wait three seconds for something, I popped over to Facebook to see what was going on. So, I started only checking Facebook on my phone, which I keep in another room when I’m working. Try it for a week. You’ll have much more fun liking pictures and posts when you get a page full than when there’s just one new update. Plus, you’ll strengthen your focus.
- Spend a few minutes with your goals and accomplishments. Sometimes scattered thinking comes into play when we’re not crystal clear on why we’re doing what we’re doing. You can get a second wind when you spend a few minutes focusing on what you want to achieve. Another trick that works is to write down a few things you’ve accomplished. Being hard on yourself will only lead to further procrastination.
- Keep a running list of what you’re thankful for. When you start to feel your blood boiling and that out-of-control feeling, it’s a good time to take a quick second to revisit all that’s good in your life. Your spouse. Your kids. A car that runs. Food on the table. A desire to do something better for your family and yourself (meaning your business). Good friends.
- Get everything out of your head. This is an old writer’s trick for curing writer’s block. But it’s also a great trick for anyone who can’t get started or focused on their task at hand. David Allen wrote a great book about it called Getting Things Done. But the premise is simple – write down everything that’s worrying you, bothering you or needs to be done. Take 10 minutes and get it on paper. Then, prioritize your list.
Want more help for getting focused? My mentor is the master of getting great at one thing and developed three great training that I learned and have provided below to help you focus on your Ambit business and achieve success:
- Performance Tracker – Helps you break down your Ambit Business activities into easy, manageable actions.
- Non-Fluff Goal Training – This no-nonsense training helps you properly define and set your income goals and your time freedom goals.
- Build It Big – A road-map for building your business step-by-step from the ground up.
Your Turn
Tell us your strategy for getting your mind back on your business in the comments below.
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