Do you ever feel like you have so much to do, but when you sit down to get to work you don’t know where to begin? Do you ever feel like your thoughts and ideas are scattered and you can’t consolidate them to accomplish the task at hand? You are not alone in this my friend! So many of my students often feel the same way and the problem often stems from too many distractions making proper focus almost impossible!
Distractions come in many forms from physical clutter to “open loops” - endless unfinished tasks running circles in our mind - to external distractions like phone bleeps, and email alerts to the rabbit hole of the internet. By removing these distractions in a mindful way, you will be able to get to the business of focusing on getting things done. Below, I have put together 5 strategies to bust through distractions so that you can turbo boost your productivity and move forward in your business and your life. Shall we dive in?
Our lives are plagued by distractions from TV shows begging to be watched, washing that needs to be done, dogs begging to be walked and the other people in our house! If you want to get focused on what you’re doing, you first need the right place to work when working from home. These are three things that you can start with:
For a deeper dive into how to get the most from your work space and set up the perfect work environment for you, check out my vlog 5 Steps to Fast Track Your Productivity.
Your mind has to process everything that crosses your field of vision. If your home or work environment is cluttered and messy, the mess and clutter results in brain fog. You can’t work effectively or live thoughtfully in chaos. I suggest that every morning, you spend 5 minutes when you get to your work area just clearing up. You won’t believe how much you can get done in 5 minutes. At the end of the day do the same thing and spend 5 minutes tidying up to give yourself a head start for the next day.
Have you heard of these before? Open loops are the unresolved tasks that replay themselves over and over again in our minds:
The laundry needs to be done. The kids need to be picked up. I have a meeting tomorrow. I still have to pick up a wedding present.
I used to regularly feel confused and unmotivated until I realised that I had hundreds of open loops constantly replaying themselves in my mind. We carry these open loops throughout our days and weeks until they pile up and consume all of our mental and emotional energy and we’re left feeling drained and exhausted. To keep the frustration these small tasks can cause at bay, start writing down the open loops that keep replaying themselves in your head and develop a game plan to tackle a few each day. To learn more about resolving open loops, click here for 3 Steps to Close Open Loops.
When you approach a task it may have a lot of moving parts or different elements that need to get done in order to see it finished. Sometimes, you might feel paralysed because there is so much to do and overwhelm sets in. The big distraction keeping you from getting work done here is your head and a great way to clear it is by doing a brain dump.
For 10 minutes, write down everything you need to get done and everything you want to accomplish. List it all out and get it out of your head and onto paper or onto your screen. When you get it all out, take a look at it and put it in order in terms of what needs to happen first, second, third etc. Then all you need to do is start at the beginning and keep going!
How often does your computer or phone beep at you when you sit down to work? You may be so used to the beeps and dings from your phone and the flashing messages on your computer screen that you don’t know how distracting they are. Did you know that it can take 15 minutes or more to recover from even a small distraction?
So what’s the solution? When you realise that most of your distractions are self-imposed, it’s easier to eliminate them. Here are a few suggestions:
Lastly, try to focus exclusively on what you are doing. When you are writing, write. When you are doing the dishes, do the dishes. You don’t need TV, Instagram, Email, and 11 other things going on at the same time. Immerse yourself in the task at hand.
So there you have it. Hopefully these 5 strategies will help you get more productive by busting through your distractions so you can focus on doing the work that will generate big results in your business. What’s your worst distraction? I would love to hear about it in the comments below.
Committed to your success,
Marina x
P.S. Now that you are ready to focus, you may be wondering what you should do first. I have a solution for you, it’s my step-by-step process to identify the crucial activities you MUST focus on right now to get bigger results in your business (in less time).
With my FREE worksheet, 6 Easy Steps for Female Entrepreneurs to Get More Done in Less Time, you just follow the steps to get more big wins while spending less time and energy to make them happen. Just click the link below and get your free copy today!
6 Easy Steps for Female Entrepreneurs to Get More Done in Less Time
I want you to know that Transformation is possible. Progress is possible. I’ve implemented these steps in my own life and coached my clients through the process.
Maybe now really is your time to make a change? Maybe this is that moment for you. If so, then I would like to invite you to book a FREE Kickstart Your Power Session, where we get on a call for 60 minutes and identify what obstacles are stopping you from reaching your goals and work out a plan for overcoming them.
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