Do you ever hear about something and it keeps showing up in conversations or in the things that you read? I take those as signs that I am supposed to share that information in my blog. Today that topic is focus. In the world we are in right now there are more distractions than ever. How can you get things done when there is so much going on around you? I read an interesting interview on focus that is giving me something to think about for myself and maybe for you as well.
Jon Acuff, who is an author with a new book coming out called “Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done” gave an interview where he talked about the distractions that prevent people from completing their goals. He highlighted two reasons that can cause you to be distracted. The first is that the distraction is easier to do than what you need to do. Watching some mindless show, staying on social media longer than you planned or just playing a game on your phone are all infinitely easier than the big task you need to accomplish. The issue is that time goes by so quickly and now you are having to push to get whatever needs to be done at the last minute. Try using the 5 second method highlighted in yesterday’s post as a tool to get started on that big task before you talk yourself out of it.
The second reason that you may use distractions instead of working on what you should be doing is that you may be hiding. That fear that you may not be able to do it or you may not complete it comes into play and we rationalize not doing it. His quote from the interview sums it up nicely: “Better to sit on the sidelines and dream about what could have been if we tried rather than try and find out we can’t do it.” I would bet that you have something in your life where this is true for you right now. The fear of doing it is way bigger than the actual task itself sometimes. What is the worst thing that could happen if you do it and you fail? You learn something from it and try again. Failing at something teaches you so much more and figuring out a way to make it work makes the success so much sweeter.
How are you doing with focus? How is your organization managing through distractions? What if you and your team could accomplish more and get stuff done? Reach out to me and let’s discuss how to put a system in place to ensures you and your team have focus at the top of the priority list!