11 ways of staying focused
June 21st, 2006 by Dave Cheong
Each of us have our busy lives and in this world of constant distractions, how can we stay focused on our goals? This article discusses several techniques I have found to work.
For me, there are always several things constantly competing for my time - articles to write, business opportunities to explore, links to follow up, my daily work, personal commitments etc. In my experience whenever I try to work on many things at the same time, none of them actually gets done.
In response, I’ve incorporated the following techniques for staying focused into my work patterns:
- Having well defined goals. I can’t stress the importance of this too much. Having goals which are well defined along good guidelines is key. I’ve found writing my goals down really helps. Whenever I get distracted, I read my goals and I’m reminded of what I am trying to do and why.
- Breaking things into bite sized chunks. Having broad high level goals are good but having an actionable plan is essential. A plan can identify how you can get from where you are to where you want go. Breaking goals into smaller actionable chunks (tasks) is great - it gives me motivation to start and allows me to get things done in one sitting.
- Prioritising constantly. To figure out which task I should be working on, I prioritise constantly. Some tasks are more important than others. Some tasks are more urgent than others. I’ve found that working on urgent tasks followed by tasks which have the greatest impact to work well for me - urgent tasks allow me to get things done on time and important tasks allow me to maximise the benefits I receive.
- Tracking progress vigorously. Each of us wants to improve our lives. However, it is easy to start with good intentions but more difficult to sustain commitment. I’ve found that by tracking my progress, I have more visibility on what I’ve done and can better gauge how much effort is left.
- Planning ahead without fail. Concentrating on the remaining effort can help reinforce commitment. Some might think they’ll get discouraged, however I haven’t found this to be the case because my tasks are bite sized and easy to finish. I’ve found it really helps to look at my goals and task lists periodically, so I can assess how much time it’ll take to do something and determine the best time to sit down and work on it.
- Rewarding myself when warranted. By all means focus on what’s outstanding, but also take stock of what’s done. I always reflect on what I’ve done, whether it is reading a post I did awhile ago or looking at the ticks I’ve made alongside my task lists. Whenever I accomplish a logical piece of work, I always reward myself. It really does help with maintaining motivation.
- Having positive patterns in my routine. I’ve found having good habits and positive patterns to be instrumental. At the moment, I can consistently get more done. As these patterns continue to establish into a routine, I’m finding that I can better judge the periods of the day in which I really need to focus and work.
- Removing distractions as best I can. The best way not to give in to temptation is not to have the option to. What seems to work for me is making the distractions difficult or inconvenient to access. Because it takes too much effort to indulge in the distraction, I find it is less likely for me to give in.
- Blocking out some time. In a previous post I wrote about waking up early and consistently. You don’t necessarily have to do this but I’ve found that having quiet time, set aside specifically for accomplishing a given task, to be very productive. I also tend to be more focused in the morning after a restful night.
- Keeping the results clear in mind. Instead of concentrating too much on the task at hand, sometimes I put some attention on the feelings I ultimately wish to experience. By focusing on the results, it is easier for me to maintain my motivation especially when working on things that I am not by nature motivated by.
- Enlisting my family and friends for help. I communicate with my family and friends about my goals all the time. Not only have they been helpful with gentle reminders whenever they see my behaviour is not consistent with my goals, but they also give me constant incentives to work at my goals and succeed.
Here are some examples of how I have applied these techniques to my blogging:
- Having a goal to write 120 articles in a year.
- Working on 3 articles each week, or 2 paragraphs in each sitting.
- Prioritising bill paying before working on writing tasks.
- Tracking the number of posts I have done each week.
- Planning the topics for future articles in advance.
- Taking time out to do searches on Technorati and Google.
- Waking up at 5:30am and working on an article before work.
- Asking my wife to wake me up if I fail to get up on my own.
- Unplugging the Xbox to remove distractions.
- Watching TV to relax my mind after completing an article.
- Visualise the growth in subscribers to my feed to maintain motivation.
These 11 techniques can be applied to any aspect of your personal and professional lives. If you find you have trouble staying focused for whatever reason, try applying some or all of these techniques. What works for me may not necessarily work for you, so don’t be afraid to experiment. If you have any techniques which work for you that I have not listed, please leave a comment.
Update: I have posted a follow up to this article entitled 18 ways to stay focused at work. In that article, I approached the issue from a bottom up perspective and provide a set of useful things you can actually implement in order to have more productive work days.
I have found the following resources to be helpful in writing this article:
- How to have a more focused day - Steve Pavlina
- Radio interview with David Allen (Getting Things Done)
- Getting and staying focused
- How to stay focused and achieve your goals
- 7 simple ways to stay focused
- How to get work done in a home based business
- Staying focused in your home office
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June 22nd, 2006 at 6:18 am
[…] 11 ways of staying focused Each of us have our busy lives and in this world of constant distractions, how can we stay focused on our goals? This article discusses several techniques I have found to work. (tags: article lifehacks productivity) […]
June 23rd, 2006 at 2:02 am
Great Post. You have given shape to most of the stuff I generally follow, though not conciously. As you said, having a concrete goal is the first thing and all other steps fall into place around this central piece.
Vijay
July 2nd, 2006 at 11:09 pm
The Personal Development Carnival - July 2, 2006
Wecome to the latest edition of the Personal Development Carnival!
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supermom_in_ny presents Home Based Businesses: What Motivates Me to Succeed posted …
July 3rd, 2006 at 5:13 pm
Hi Vijay - thanks for taking the time to comment.
I hope you’ve found this post and others useful. As I mentioned in the post, not all things will work for everyone. The key is figuring the ones that work and apply those. For the ones that don’t, weed it out of your system.
July 6th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
[…] The thing about personal development is we build upon each success. Every victory lays the foundation for the next challenge. Along the same lines as the previous example, if your goal is to be an early riser, then discipline is a prerequisite. Set good goals that would develop this first, such as writing a journal to track the things you want to do, removing distractions or generally applying any of the other tips about how to stay focused. […]
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October 19th, 2006 at 6:52 am
Thanks! While there’s nothing earth-shattering here, it’s wonderful to see them in a nice, concise list (in both “focus” articles). Especiall for an ADD-er such as myself…:)
January 2nd, 2007 at 6:22 pm
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April 25th, 2007 at 1:06 am
i wanty to lean how to be focused in every thing i do at all time
May 4th, 2007 at 4:31 am
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May 24th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Well done great article/s,
Yes people do not plan to fail but fail to plan and
great organisation is the core of operations here
along with common sense.Motivation is the spirit of
humanity and we need to affirm this ethos so therefore
embrace all such positive thoughts leading to positve
actions with results making good feelings and a sense
of being in the universe.
Thank you.
May 24th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Hi Harry,
You’ve put it so beautifully. Thank you for commenting!
dave
June 23rd, 2007 at 7:28 am
Hello Dave!
Just want to give great thanks for putting out such a wonderfully-productive article! I’ve applied one of your methods of writing a To-Do List and it never fails!(Well I fail when I forget to get my list done first thing in the morning!:P) Will link you to my blog.
Thank you again!
Stan
June 23rd, 2007 at 10:08 pm
G’Day Stan,
You are most welcomed… Thank you for taking the time to comment. Hope you have continued success and check back in often.
cheers,
dave
August 17th, 2007 at 2:56 am
Hey nice post.
I have problems staying focused in general, I mean I am a very thorough person in that I make a good job of the things I attend to, but it’s staying focused on the ones that are most important that causes me problems. Your section on prioritising is a good reminder for me to attend to the things that matter the most as they appear.
I’m actually a teacher, and it’s hardly surprising that I struggle with priorities because they always change in teaching - all the time too! Its easy to fritter away hours organising lessons rather than actually trying to think about how I am going to teach.
Trouble arises I think when there are competiting priorities. Take for example the situation where I spent 40 mins collecting folders and jotters for my new classes and figuring out how my new classroom works instead of thinking how I was going to teach the lesson most effectively. These challenges seem to happen all the time in my teaching. If I don’t bother tidying up my stuff or getting things organised I get someone breathing down my back about organisation whereas if I do tidy up and loose valuable lesson planning time my lessons seem to suffer.
In my teaching being organised physically (room and resources)is constantly competiting for time with being organised mentally (knowing in my mind how to teach and deliver in a concise and focused manner)
I guess the learning is the most important part and everything else can get done once thats been considered.
Cheers,
Mike
PS You probably realise how unfocused I am by the length of this post, which is proably summed up in the last few lines (lol)
October 10th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
[…] 11 ways of staying focused August 15, 2006 at 4:47 am | In English, Software | Del blog de Dave Cheong Ingeniero de Software Java, aqui 11 formas para mantenerse concentrado en el trabajo, especialmente para los desarroladores de software o de sistemas, las transcribo tal cual en Inglés para que no pierdan su esencia. 1. Having well defined goals. […]
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January 10th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
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February 18th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Hi Dave,
A truly inspirational and motivational article. Surprisingly you listed out all unseen problem of a less motivated or mentally tired person.Thanks a lot for providing such a crispy note for a focussed life.