How To Re-Focus… Yourself

February 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Even the most productive and focussed people will occasionally find them selves staring at a blank wall. It might just be “one of those days”, but if it starts to happen repeatedly you might have to consider that there’s a bigger problem.

You’ve Lost Your Focus

You don’t really feel like doing anything and you can’t keep track of what you actually convince yourself to do. You start asking ‘Why?’ without ever really looking for an answer. Well don’t worry, it happens. Luckily there are a few things you can do to re-focus your mind and your attitude.

1. Set Your Priorities Straight

When you feel like you have too much to do, you end up not wanting to do anything. Set your priorities so you have a clear vision of what needs to get done now. This way your to-do list is a little smaller and more focussed. Also keep a list of things you will want to be thinking about or working on in the future. This way you will be aware of your future endeavors and also have a list of things to work on when you just don’t feel like focusing on the tasked at hand. This way your focused on something that needs to be done rather than nothing.

2. Seek Silence

If you’re becoming more easily distracted, get rid of the distractions. Invest in a pair of headphones that block out all the noise. Keep your cell phone out of sight and only open your e-mail 1-3 times a day. If none of that helps, leave your phone at home and work from a remote location that you are unfamiliar with and try facing a wall.

3. Relax A Bit

When you’re relaxed you will be able to look at the big picture instead of just looking forward. You will be able to observe what’s working and what’s not which will give you the direction and focus to get more done. Being relaxed also helps you get in “the zone”. You are calm enough to organize your thoughts and goals and then strategically approach all of them.

Find more tips to focus here. 

What helps you focus? Share in the comment box below or on Facebook and Twitter.

Filed Under: Advice, Being Excellent, Business, Business Leaders, Focus, Motivating Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

7 Ways To Be More Efficient

October 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There is always room for more efficiency right?  Who doesn’t want to get more done in less time?  Here are a few tips that I have found useful and effective.

1. Skip The Meetings – Meetings are a good way to get sidetracked and waste time.  If you can handle it in real time, do it.  If not, go into the meeting with a specific goal and a time-frame to achieve it.

2. Follow The Two-Pizza Rule – Having a team is all about promoting the collaboration aspect. As your team starts to grow you can split it into smaller groups.  Try to keep your groups small enough so that you can feed them with two pizzas.

3. Pick Up Your Phone – Keep the communication open so that nothing important has to wait and you can always keep people up to speed. You can get a lot more out of a conversation through the phone than you can by e-mail.

4. Organize Your Interruptions – As contradictory as that may sound, you can do it and it helps. Figure out what needs your immediate attention, what you need to be thinking about and what you need to know at the end of each day and use it to prepare for the next one.

5. Always Be Interviewing – The best way to be more productive is to have a good group of people doing what they’re best at. Talent is an investment that always pays back.  if you meet someone and you wouldn’t want them working for a competitor, you should probably hire them.

6. Use Your E-mail for Documentation – Keep folders of all the documents you might need.  If you forget something you can instantly access it on your phone. You can also keep track and refer to previous statements in the ongoing conversations.

7. Shorten Your Mental Deadlines – Set high expectations for yourself and try to stick to them.  Putting a little healthy pressure on yourself can help you focus and get more done in less time.

 

What productivity secrets do you have? Share in the comment box below. Don’t forget to connect with me on Facebook and  Twitter.

Filed Under: How To Be More Efficient, How To Be More Productive Tagged With: , , , , ,

Learn From Nike

June 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Everyone, including myself, likes to have a certain amount of security before we start something new or take another risk.  We liked to be prepared because it decreases our chance for failure, unless we never get around to doing what we originally started preparing for.  I have met several people who are or were full of goals and dreams and even ambition, but they never move their lives forward.  That’s why I recommend we all take a tip from Nike and Just Do It.  Here are a few ways to keep you moving.

Visualize every aspect of your idea or goal.  If you know exactly what you want you can figure out exactly what you need which gives you an actual starting point.  Think about everything from what it looks like to who will be involved and what you need to make it work.

Give yourself a schedule or deadline and stick to it.  If it is an idea that will take a lot of work set dates for all of the important benchmarks.  If it is something you can do in a day, set the date and set it in stone.  Plan everything you can around the dates you set as a way to keep yourself in check.  You can even set up meetings with your contacts or collaborators to help give yourself that extra push.

Don’t come up with a fall back plan.  If you know you have another option you might give yourself the easy out.  Try and remember how important this is to you or your company and that it is worth the stress and work that goes in to it.  Your ideas are what move things forward in your personal life and in your business.

Remember you could always use a little extra money or a little more time and that won’t change, no matter how close you get.  Try and always keep things moving so that you don’t look back and realize you have been stuck in the same place the whole time.

For more business and innovation tips and ideas you can follow me on Twitter and connect with me on Facebook.

Filed Under: Business Tips, Ideas Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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