How do I stay focused?

Well, a lot of the time, I don’t.

Time is money. The more I can do in the time afforded me, or at least the more time I can leverage for focused work, the more efficient my business will be.

So, I'd love to say I've nailed time management and that I only work 4 days a week because by Friday I've got everything done, and I'm a super productive freelance whizz.

But that would be a lie.

I find it very easy to procrastinate. All it takes is for my mind to wander.

But I'm better than I used to be. If you want your business to be successful you have to take productivity seriously.

As a sole trader who provides a skilled service, there aren’t that many strategies for growth beyond increasing your prices, getting higher paying gigs, and doing more work.

One thing you can do is increase efficiency. So, I’m keen to try out anything that will make me more productive (some of the time at least).

Here's a few strategies I've found that work for me.

Short daily to do list

You can only achieve so much in one day so writing a short to do list for each day makes tasks more… manageable.

You have to be realistic about what you will actually achieve and maybe even break down one bigger task into a few smaller ones, to make it less overwhelming.

Anything more than 3 or 4 main tasks and the chances are you won’t get around to doing all of them. And the stress of trying to fit it all in, isn’t likely to help you focus on the task at hand.

Noise cancelling headphones

This is particularly helpful if you work in an office or co-working space. Invest in some good (comfy) headphones.

Music doesn’t work for everyone, but it does for a lot of people, and actually the simple act of putting on the headphones and blocking out distractions can get you in the right headspace.

My listening preference? - Acid jazz, deep house, funky music.

Just enough energy to keep my cymbal-crashing-monkey brain from getting distracted, and repetitive enough that it doesn't take the focus away from what I'm working on.

Pomodoro

Work, break, work, break.

A 5:1 ratio usually works pretty well.

Or something along those lines. Even just having a rhythm of a chunk of deep work followed by a break as a reward is helpful.

If you have smaller tasks on your to-do list, you could do a task, have a break, do a task, have a break etc…

Breaks are good.

Stay focused timer/News Feed Eradicator

Two of my most used browser extensions (along with Ad Blocker – sorry ad people…).

Stay Focusd limits my overall time on certain websites (1 hr a day for YouTube, Insta, Facebook all together), so once that's up, it's up for the day, nothing I can do about it. It forces me to ration that time across the day (particularly on YouTube).

News Feed Eradicator theoretically allows me to use a site like Twitter without getting sucked into the scroll and although I can disable the eradication temporarily, once that time is up, I'm taken out of the scroll.

Isn't it crazy that we need this stuff, just so we don’t end up wasting endless amounts of time on social media… 😬

…maybe you have more self-control than me.

Being Busy

The busier I am, the more I get done.

I'm not condoning hustle culture or that your value comes from how busy you are, but I find having a full and diverse calendar (including downtime, rest, social stuff) makes for a much healthier and productive lifestyle.

Stuff gets done.

When I’ve got all the time in the world, I have a propensity to leave things until the last minute. I appreciate that’s just the way I’m wired but you may be the same.

Having a full calendar is an extra incentive to use the time I have got wisely. If there’s non-negotiable events or meetings, I've got to work around them and if I don't get stuff done in the limited time that remains… I'm screwed.

Deadlines

This is also why deadlines are so useful.

I need deadlines. A bit of fear factor to get it done. That coupled with the incentive to do a good job means doing it in good time.

I’ve skated dangerously close a couple of times, and it’s scary. Missing a deadline, even by a couple of days is embarrassing and although a bit of understanding and apology goes a long way, it has the potential to damage your reputation.

Make your own deadlines if you must (although I find the best deadlines are those provided by someone else).

Mindset and balance

Of course, there are some things out of your control but when it is in your control, it ultimately comes down to you. Being focused is a choice. For a business owner it helps to have the mindset mentioned at the start.

But it comes with balance.

Time is needed away from creative tasks to think and let ideas ruminate, sometimes procrastination can be helpful.

But honestly most of my procrastination is not this. It’s passive consumption of something unrelated to the task at hand, as a way of avoiding what needs to be done. Eating the frog and all that.

Actively establishing the difference between these two things and planning it into your day is much more effective and rewarding.

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How To Stay Focused At Work