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Five Top Tips for Better Focus
14 March 2014 | By Catherine Wheatcroft

This week a business client told me that I had brought her 'renewed focus' in her business. Previously she had been trying to cater for all customers, be all things to everyone and had forgotten what she was actually good at and the talent that had made her start a business in the first place!

And this client is not alone in having lost a little focus about where the business is going and the best journey to get there. This is something that happens to lots of businesses at some point, because it is hard out there trying to keep things going, serving customers and having the drive to keep pushing every day.

Focus

We get distracted by what other businesses are doing, great ideas that we read about, new angles on the same approach. We think that we should try something else because we might sell more, attract new clients or somehow, stand out from the crowd.

But what can happen is that we start moving from one idea to another, trying to find the best way, we get confused and eventually loose sight of what we started with. We stray away from what we are good at or where our passion is, for the ‘something better’.

Now don’t get me wrong, ideas are good, experimenting with your marketing is good, but lets stay focused on what we are good at. So here are some tips to consider for helping you stay focused.

Organise your time to work with your energy levels. Our concentration and energy levels vary throughout the day and only you will know when you are at your best. So get your creative or tougher tasks done when you are at your best, your head is clear and you have maximum energy. If you attempt the tougher tasks when you are not at your best it will drain your energy levels further and lower your focus.

Train your mind to concentrate. We all multi-task and this has become normal to our everyday lives. The brain can quickly adapt to this way of working, the constant distractions and flitting from one thing to another. But by doing so we are training our brains to be unfocused. Practice concentrating on one task at a time and ignore all other distractions until you have done what you need to do on one single task at a time.

Start with just five minutes per day and work up. If you feel your mind is wandering, focus back on the task again. By doing this, you will train your brain to focus better.

Have a break and get some fresh air. This may sound odd in an article about being focused, but a break will help you to re-energise, give your eyes a break, increase your motivation for the next task and clear your mind in preparation. Just try it; get 10 minutes of fresh air and some movement and you will come back to your work renewed and get produce a better quality of work.

Know your purpose and goal. Ask yourself why you are trying to complete this task. What is your purpose for finishing it?

If you know what your purpose and end goal is, you will be more motivated to complete the work. So write down your purpose and repeat it to yourself to keep your energies in the right place. Your purpose will help you to remain focused because you know where you are trying to get to and why.

Do some reading every day. Reading is a great way to train the brain to focus and concentrate on one thing at a time. Set aside up to an hour a day to read the newspaper, a novel or some non-fiction, but the Internet does not count! Focus on reading it well and not being distracted by anything else.

When you have finished your reading, ask yourself what you have just read. What were the key messages? Who was mentioned? What were the arguments or journey? This is a good test to see if you were paying full attention to what you were reading and had been training your brain to be focused.

Do you need help maintaining focus on the important things for your business? Call me now to arrange a free half hour consultation on 07895 389919.

 

 

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