Ted Chan

Focus can mean a lot of things, but today I will focus as it relates to getting things done. For many entrepreneurs this is probably one of the most difficult things to do. It is easy to get distracted, have new ideas, get side tracked and not complete things.

This is probably the biggest killer to your productivity. If you could focus 100% on a task and get it done or completed, you’d be able to be much more effective.

Most entrepreneurs, especially home based ones and ones that are just starting out have so many things going on that they are just asking to be side tracked. Take a look at the list below and see if you fit any of these.

Have your cellphone with you at all times
chat on skype, msn, aim, yahoo messenger, icq etc.
have outlook pop up a window every time a new email comes in
check your email 20 times or more per day (constantly)
answer the phone when it rings, even though you’re not expecting a call
dogs barking
kids running around
have lots of clutter around your desk and work area to distract you

I’m not saying any of these things are bad, they’re not. They are all just tools for communications or to “help” your productivity, but you need to reclaim your time and focus. In order to be effective you need to have massive focus. Take action and get things done.

I am just as guilty as you in having all these things going on and trying to do work.

I remember reading that if you’re working and in the flow everytime that you get distracted or an interruption comes up, it can take as much as 8 to 10 minutes to re-engage in that activity. If you have just a minute questions / meetings, phone calls, messengers coming in and all sorts of other distractions occurring how are you going to be engaged in what you are trying to do?

The things I had mentioned are all discussing external distractions. There are also internal distractions that we all have. Our mind goes wandering off in different directions and the next thing we know we’re driving over to krispy kreme for a donut, when we were supposed to have been getting that report written up.

Attention Compression is my terminology for the limited amount of attention we have anymore becuase we are constantly barraged with all sorts of things to steal our attention and time. Tools that were meant to improve our productivity have increased the hours we work and made us more accessible then ever.

Remember when people had pagers and it took a little longer to get back to people. Now everyone calls your cell phone at the drop of a bucket. Our attention is getting compressed into smaller and smaller chuncks, and it’s difficult to regain our attention and focus.

What distractions can you remove to increase your foucs?
How can you improve your attention span, and improve the attention that you’re focusing on things you need to get done.

Until Next Time!