4 Ways to Focus & Take Control of Your Time
The ability to focus is a skill. How in the world do people stay on task with anything these days? It's scary how easily we are distracted. A random thought or noise and off we go into a world unrelated to our priorities. As an entrepreneur, staying focused is crucial to my productivity. If I'm not careful, hours can easily pass me by with the spark of the slightest distraction. (I'm also a huge scaredy-cat. If I hear a noise, I either believe spirits are in my presence or someone is trying to kill me.) Nevertheless, learning ways to stay on task is a vital skill that I aim to master each and every day.
The ability to focus is a skill. How in the world do people stay on task with anything these days? It's scary how easily we are distracted. A random thought or noise and off we go into a world unrelated to our priorities. As an entrepreneur, staying focused is crucial to my productivity. If I'm not careful, hours can easily pass me by with the spark of the slightest distraction. (I'm also a huge scaredy-cat. If I hear a noise, I either believe spirits are in my presence or someone is trying to kill me.) Nevertheless, learning ways to stay on task is a vital skill that I aim to master each and every day.
WHY IS IT SO HARD TO STAY FOCUSED
It's the way our brains are programmed. It's how we tune-in to novelty. We need to be aware of when something changes or is out of the ordinary in our surroundings. There's no telling your brain not to pay attention to distractions no matter how minute it is. You can try, but it's like putting cookies in front of a 5 year-old and telling him not to eat it. Good luck.
WHY IS STAYING FOCUSED SO IMPORTANT?
If you're reading this, you probably understand that if you could stay focused then you can get more of what you want to do (or need to do) done. But here's a reason you may not have thought about.
Self-control and decision making require a lot of energy. Although these aren't physical tasks, they require an abundance of mental resources to be carried out successfully. When you're switching from task to task, you're draining your mental resources. When it comes time to focus, you find that you're less patient, more irritable, and can't remember things as well. Not only aren't you able to get a substantial amount of work done, your personal life suffers as well. Once you get home exhausted and drained, providing your undivided attention to those you love is out of the question. You simply don't have the energy for it. You do what you need to do to get by, but your heart isn't in it, and it shows.
HOW TO STAY FOCUSED
Like I said before, you can’t tell your brain not to notice distractions. You can’t choose to only be distracted when it benefits you. Like if a spirit was in the room or someone was actually trying to kill you. The answer is easy:
ELIMINATE DISTRACTIONS
Like most things, it’s easier said than done. Don’t fret, here are
4 SIMPLE WAYS TO FOCUS WHEN YOU NEED TO BE PRODUCTIVE:
1. Take care of your personal needs: Go pee, grab something to eat, bring a glass of water to the party, make sure you're in comfortable clothes. When our basic needs aren't met, it's pretty hard to ignore them even when you're deep in a project. You never want to break the zone once you're in it, so be mindful of what you need ahead of time.
Comfort is super important. But don't get too comfortable. You're not trying to go to sleep. Random fact: I gave up on matching socks years ago. Best decision I ever made.
2. Clear your area: You may think a cluttered room is doing you no harm but sadly my dear, you're wrong. The anxiety that's slowly building up because you know you need to tidy up the living room, hinders your creativity, critical thinking skills and the ability to relax.
If it's a small mess (clothes on the floor, dishes on the counter) take a couple of minutes to straighten up. If the mess is too large and will take more than 15 minutes to clean, you may just need a professional organizer ( call me). 3rd option, you can take 2 minutes and gather everything to one area and commit to cleaning-up after your productive period is over. Miraculously, this settles the mind because you've made a decision and committed to it by taking the first step
3. Turn off communications devices AKA your cell phone (because who has a house phone or a pager anymore): If I had it my way, we would all go back to the days where we had house phones, answer machines, and people didn't expect to hear from you for another day or two. Unfortunately, I don't rule the world, so all cell phones are safe for now. But make no mistake, they are your enemy when trying to complete a task that requires deep thought or stepping into a flow or rhythm. Do yourself a favor. Silence your device. Set a timer for an hour and place your phone out of sight. You'll thank me later. You're Welcome.
4. Manage What You Focus On:
This is all about mindfulness. If you're past the age of teenage brain and you consider yourself a real adult then listen up. Being aware of where your thoughts go is important to staying focused. Once we go down a path of something that's negative or unproductive it's really hard to get back. The longer you take to say, Come back andRefocus, the more likely you will find yourself 5 pages deep on Instagram not remembering what you've been doing for the past 30 minutes. As soon as you notice you're getting off track take hold of your thoughts and remind yourself of what's important. This does take practice but it's totally worth it.
Taking control of how you spend your time gives you freedom over your life. Don't ever take your freedom for granted.
Feel free,
Mel
***If you live in the Atlanta area and are interested in getting your home organized I invite you to contact me.
** Did you enjoy this post? If so, share with your friends so they can increase their productivity!
20 Reasons to be an Entrpreneur
Why live a life full of mediocrity, frustration, and boredom when you can have the complete opposite?
I've had numerous conversations with friends and coworkers about the scariness of building your own business and reasons someone would shy away from it.
There's uncertainty, risks, and challenges and most people hate those things. I get it. Something so "scary" looks unappealing. I get that too. But have you ever taken a step back to look at all the scary things involved in maintaining a job you hate only for security?
Why live a life full of mediocrity, frustration, and boredom when you can have the complete opposite?
I've had numerous conversations with friends and coworkers about the scariness of building your own business and reasons someone would shy away from it.
There's uncertainty, risks, and challenges and most people hate those things. I get it. Something so "scary" looks unappealing. I get that too. But have you ever taken a step back to look at all the scary things involved in maintaining a job you hate only for security? Have you taken the time to think about all the things that are not an option when you choose the safe, expected route?
In case you haven't,
Here are the many reasons BIG and SMALL (but even the small things are big) to be an entrepreneur:
1. To not have to clock in and clock out
2. To know that the effort you put in will produce what you will get back in return
3. To not have another adult tell youto put away your phone as if you're twelve
4. To not have to do something and not understand why you're doing it
5. To never have to hear about people complaining about their jobs everyday
6. To do something you enjoy
7. To be great at what youdo
8. To never have to decide if you should take off Christmas or Thanksgiving ever again
9. To be proud of what you do
10. To inspire others to go after what they love to do
11. To live a fulfillinglife
12. To have financial freedom
13. To use your creative abilities to make money (because we are all creative beings)
14. Never have to eat lunch with people you don't like but tolerate
15. To decide where you make money and when you make it
16. To have a job filled with adventure and novelty
17. To never have to dread Mondays ever again
18. To determine what success means for you
19.The freedom of not having someone determine what you'll be doing for 10 hours of your day for the next 30 years of your life
20. To mean it when you respond "You can be anything you want to be" when your child talks about their hopes and dreams
These are a few of the many reasons to be in entrepreneur in my book. I understand everyone isn't meant to be an entrepreneur, but neither is living a life of suffering. No one is built for that. I see so much dissatisfaction in the eyes of people young and old all because they've simply given up hope. Given up hope that their job will get better, that the possibility of something greater is too far to reach. It's frightening how a job can suck the life and optimism out of you. It's crazy how a job can make you feel like this is the best you can do without even realizing you feel that way until it's 5 years later, and you don't know why you've stayed so long.
There's no reason not to pursue what brings you joy. Take whatever you're passion about and profit from it. There's no reason you can't do what you love. There's no reason other than if you believe you can't.
Feel Free,
Mel
**Were you inspired? Did you enjoy this post? If so, share with others to enjoy**
How I Let Reaching a Goal Take Over My Life
When I had my son IV, I decided I would breastfeed him until he was old enough to drink regular milk. I figured it would be 4 months..6 months tops. On our first visit to the pediatrician, to my surprise it was much longer than that. Children aren't allowed to drink cow's milk until their first birthday. I was floored..
When I had my son IV, I decided I would breastfeed him until he was old enough to drink regular milk. I figured it would be 4 months..6 months tops. On our first visit to the pediatrician, to my surprise it was much longer than that. Children aren't allowed to drink cow's milk until their first birthday. I was floored, but I was also committed. I was committed to providing IV with all the nutrients he needs to have the best health possible, and breastfeeding would accomplish that.
My Purpose: A healthy baby.
My Goal: Breastfeed my baby for his first year of life.
USE ALL YOUR RESOURCES TO REACH YOUR GOAL
At 3 months I was doing great. At 6 Months I was struggling with my supply. Between 6 and 9 months I tried all the tips to increase my milk supply: fernugreek, blessed thistle, multiple lactation teas, ginger, oatmeal, eating more, drinking more, basil oil, power pumping. I did it all. But as soon as my supply would increase, it would decrease with one missed pump. It was so finicky. It drove me nuts.
I was slowly losing my mind but didn't want to admit it.
Sometimes you need more than what's in your backpocket to reach your goal. Take advantage of all that's available to you.
WHEN YOUR GOAL STARTS TO FEEL OUT OF REACH
At 9 months I knew that making it to 12 months would be a miracle. With the stress of work, the busyness of the holidays, preparing for my business, I started to lose it.
I was pumping my life away.
I would be late going places because I needed to stop home first to pump. I was getting little to no sleep because no matter how late it was, the last thing I needed to do before bed was pump, and the first thing I had to do before work was pump. I was drained and it showed. I knew that if something didn't give soon I was going to lose it.
The circumstances of life can get in the way towards reaching your goal. No matter how much effort you put towards something, sometimes it doesn't pan out the way you hope. Don't be afraid to adjust your goal, seek new paths.
WHEN YOU LOSE SIGHT OF YOUR PURPOSE
Reluctantly, I started looking up organic formulas and found one I really liked but couldn't bring myself to order it. I told friends and family about it as if I was waiting for them to ask why or maybe I needed convincing. Surprisingly, everyone understood even without the drawn out explanation. Even IV's father's response was simply, "Okay." No one was making a big deal about it other than me. Why?
One word: failure. I felt like a complete failure for not making it to 12 months.
I completely disregarded the fact that he's been having breast milk for the past 10 months and he's now as round as a rollypolly. I disregarded the factthat in order for me to be the best mom that I can be, I needed to be well rested, full of energy, stress-free and pumping was hindering that. I ignored that fact that I went through not one but two breast pumps. The second one broke on me and it now takes me double the time to pump, because I can only pump one breast at a time. I disregarded the fact I was doing the best I could.
You are the only one who truly knows if you've done your best, and usually when you have, those around you can tell. When we are committed to something we often feel that if we change courses or our minds, we have done something wrong in some way. When the truth is, life is forever changing. It's important to change along with it in order to enjoy it as much as you can. There's nothing wrong with making adjustments. You can only fight the tide for so long until it consumes you. Lettinggo of pride and stubborness is part of this process. Give yourself permission to allow your needs and wants to change.
“Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.”
BE FLEXIBLE IN ORDER TO REACH YOUR GOAL
All that mattered to me was my child being fully breastfed for the first year of life. That's it, nothing more nothing less. And when the road got tough, I was willing to sacrafice any and everything-- even my mental health in order to reach my goal. At this point, the goal was greater than the purpose.
When you have a goal it is imperative to completey understand your purpose. Your purpose will not only motivate you when times get hard, it will inform you of when you've reached your goal. The moment your purpose is forgotten, your ambission is now in the driver seat. And your ambission doesn't care about friends, family, health, or having a good time. All it cares about is getting to the goal by any means necessary. I forgot my purpose was to have a healthy baby, because I was so fixated on breastfeeding for 12 months. Not only is my child healthy, the formula I chose would also provide him the nurishment he needs to thrive. I allowed my purpose to take a backseat, while my ambission drove me crazy.
Don't allow your dreams and goals to hold you hostage. The further you go down a path the clearer you become about what it is you need. Things will come up that you had no way of knowing before. Be patient with yourself, you may be surprised that the new goal in mind was greater than the first.
Feel Free,
Mel