In our world which is full of distraction, it is not really easy to stay focused. Large screen TV, video gaming consoles, smart mobile phones equipped with multiple social media apps – it’s practically one distraction following another. How do we get our daily work done surrounded by so many distractions?
One answer: we can achieve our goals by staying focused.
Say that you are preparing for your exam and not being able to get much accomplished. Reason for not being able to get much done is lack of focus. We accomplish a lot when we are focused and accomplish less or none without focus. This is the simple fact of life. When we have difficulty focusing, same job would take longer or never end up being done. Since there is only twenty-four hours in our day and your exam is literally knocking on your door, you do not have the time to waste. We need to do whatever warranted to get our attention back and get the job done.
Just like your education goal, focus is also required to accomplish your business target as well. No business can flourish without maintaining a clear set of goal. Operators or the owners of the businesses must stay focused on reaching their goals. For example, let’s say you run a clipping path services company. You will need to write down a clear goal from the very beginning of your company till the time your business starts acquiring regular clients. Once your business starts acquiring customers on a routine basis, it is only rinse and repeat from that point. To get to that point, we need to set a clear goal and keep our focus from the beginning.
So how do you stay focused? Below are 5 ways you can stay focused to accomplish your objective.
- Plan Your Day the Day Before
Draft a list of what you wish to do the following day before you go to sleep. Put them down on a notebook in order and set appropriate calander entry when needed. Once the following day plan Is set, you can go through the list one by one without having to worry about missing one item in the list. You book enough time for each job. As an example, meeting with Kyle: 9.30 am – 10.30 AM. Lunch 12.30 PM – 1.30 PM. Call clipping path client Randy: 3.00 PM.
If you have your daily routine arranged in the timely fashion, you will get all items in the book completed before the end of that day. Not only you will not forget anything, you will not have to worry about keeping anything for the next day. If we procrastinate, we just keep piling up our daily chores that gets impossible to handle at some point.
- Eliminate the Distractions
It has been stated at the start of this article that we have wide range of elements of distractions surrounding us. We must eliminate them to maintain our focus. It can be shutting the photo off or putting it in silent mode for 30 minutes when you are in an urgent meeting. You could be busy with a time sensitive report and cannot afford to be disturbed. Hanging a “do not disturb sign” at the door handle and turning the phone off will help you finish your work in a timely manner.
- Measure Your Success
Everything has its own measurement. How many customers you have so far? How many orders you have coming in on a daily basis? How many employee hours it takes to finish a specific job? How much profit you take home per order? You must be able to measure that success along with your expenses. Set a clear goal as to what you need to accomplish in a day and drive to achieve that measurement.
- Understand Your Business
They say, keep your friends close but your enemies closer. You must have thorough understanding of your competition. You must need to know what they are doing to run their business, how they are generating sales and acquiring new customers, what kind of marketing campaign they are running, what is their cost of production, what is the price they are selling at, what is their profit margin? You must have all these data in order to remain competitive. If you are a clipping path service provider company for example, you need to know how much time it takes to draw a clipping path by hand on a specific image, how much does it cost you in employee time along with overhead, how much your competitors are charging for the same clipping path or ghost mannequin service job, etc. Once you have all these intelligences, you can then set a pricing that will get you the business by keeping you competitive.
- Recharge Yourself to Boost Your Energy Level
We all get burned out over time. Long day at work and routine work schedule burns us out at some point. It is extremely important to recharge yourself to boost your energy so that you can get your focus back. Take some time off your work if you think it’s needed. Maybe going away on a vacation to do what you love doing the most will help you get your energy back. If you enjoy fishing for example, go away on a fishing trip. You will be shocked to see how much more energy you have the following day. Even if didn’t catch much or the big fish went away, you will still have fun. Idea is to distant yourself from the routine work and keep your mind busy with something that feeds your soul.
