What Focus?

Do you ever look at your TO DO List at 5:00pm and wonder, “What happened?” Do you find yourself getting off-track during the day and starting other projects? If so, you are not alone. As a start up business owner, recent graduate from Regent University’s Doctor of Strategic Leadership Program, and mother, I find my days full of distractions. I can schedule all my work on a calendar, look at it 10 times a day, and still go off on a side adventure. We tend to be attracted to activities we enjoy doing and want to do them first or we stop and put out fires that come our way.

What really helped me to become more focused was creating purpose or vision statements for different parts of my life. Ask yourself:

What purpose do I want for my life?
What do I value?
What is my purpose at work? What am I here to do?
What ultimate vision am I trying to achieve?
What do I want to accomplish in each area of my life?
What do I want to be known for?

Now write out short purpose/vision statements for each of your life focus areas and post them where they can be read daily. When a new idea or distraction comes along, review your purpose/vision statements and see if it will help you attain what you are working towards. If it does, put it aside to consider after you finish your other planned activities or tasks. If it doesn’t fit, discard it or put it in a non-urgent file. Save it for the end of the day. Work on your most important tasks first (and save the distracting dishes or laundry for later).

What helps you to focus? I would love to hear your tips.