“A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention”- Herbert Simon
Focusing is one of the most important tools when you are starting a business. If you can’t focus how are you going to even start? Sure you can say “I plan on starting so and so…”, but if you don’t have the focus to start it, then that “plan” will remain a pipe dream. According to Deepak Chopra humans have about 60,000 thoughts a day. No wonder it’s hard to focus. And with the speed and availability of information today it has become even harder to stay in the zone.
Here are my tips for staying focused:
1. Become aware of how easily your mind wonders
To be more focused dissociate yourself from the voice in your head. Take the time to observe your thoughts, notice how quickly they jump from one to the next, and where they lead you. Your intention for example might be to research a possible competitor, when a headline or an image catches your attention and all of a sudden you find yourself on an unrelated website. Make note of how the voice in your head jumps from one thing to the next and how easy it is to get off track. When you catch yourself just go back to your original intention. It’s almost like snapping out of a black out when you realize your mind strayed. The more you notice how your mind wonders, the more aware you will become when it does, and the easier it will become to pull yourself back and focus. You want to get to a state of monoidealism, where you have exactly one thing on your mind at a time with no conflicts.
2. Know your goal: own it, and don’t let it drift away
When you have a goal, lets say its to finish draping that dress or making that pattern or researching and contacting 10 suppliers tonight, make sure you fully internalize your goal, because at the end of the day no one is going to make you do it. You have to learn to make yourself do it. So own it! Repeat it to yourself, write it down, understand why you want to accomplish it, and don’t let it out of your sight. It’s hard to do because when you go home at the end of your day you want to relax, and a lot of times forget what it was you were going to do. I’ve found that internalizing my goals and repeating them to myself through out the day keeps me focused, and when I get home, I relax, for a bit yes, but then I get to work. My trick is asking myself “what’s my goal for tonight?” and “why do I want to get this done?” The best part is how good it feels when you accomplish what you set out to do, even if it was something as small as sending an email. It feels so good and makes you more confident and ready for your next goal.
A personal example: A more recent goal of mine was to write out the claims for a provisional patent application I’m getting ready to file for a product I’m working on (more on this coming soon). This was daunting for me because I have never done it and didn’t know how to start. But I knew my goal and just kept thinking about it through out my day, I wrote it down with why I had to do it and what it would mean to me. I held myself responsible for it. “What’s my goal for tonight? To write out my claims”, “Why do I want to get this done? So I can have my lawyer look them over and get moving on my application asap” When I got home it was like I couldn’t wait to get started because I kept it on my mind all day. I was amazed at how focused I was especially because it seemed like a scary task. I owned it and I felt like a million bucks when I was finished!
3. Learn to control your urges
By this I mean: surfing the net, quickly checking phone, email, facebook, twitter, blogs, watching TV, changing the music…etc. When you catch yourself say NO and close out your distraction. Police yourself. Remember no one is going to do it for you. When you find yourself thinking “let me just check this real quick” stop for a moment, think about why you want to check it, and think about if it will slow your progress. I’ve read that it takes about 20 minutes to really get in the zone and focus on something. If you are past 20 minutes don’t sabotage yourself by going on some website. Now if you check a site for research purposes that directly relate to you current task then check it, but exist as soon as you get your info— its too easy to “quickly” check something unrelated and lose focus.
4. Catch yourself loosing focus – pat yourself on the back for catching yourself – and go back to what you were doing
It’s easy to lose your focus, happens to me, happens to lots of people. Don’t get mad at yourself, just be grateful of your awareness, in fact compliment yourself on catching yourself and go back to focusing on your work.
5. Get moving
If you are really having trouble focusing do something physical- go for a run, a bike ride, jump rope…etc. I run and it really helps to clear my mind, get rid of the useless thoughts and focus on my goals. Sometimes I go running just for that reason alone. I always feel calm and ready afterwards.
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