Focus Your Way to the Top

Springtime.

So much energy expended this time of year.

Trees starting to bud, then each individual leaf breaks free from the constraint of the bud, eventually leafing out.

All sorts of flowers popping their little heads out of the soil after a long nap – tulips, iris, crocus, lilies – not to mention all the perennials that bless us with their greenery. They use every drop of energy they stored over the winter to push ahead, through the dirt so that finally, they break through the soil to feel the sun’s heat and grow into what they were meant to be.

Constraint.

Sounds more like focused attention and effort.

Each plant knows its goal and is focused on it and only it until it’s achieved. Sounds pretty impressive, doesn’t it?

What would happen if you had that kind of focus in your life?

We are entering into our last few months of being parents with kids living at home. Our daughter will come home from college at the end of May to join our boys who will be graduating from their junior college. They’ll be here for the next three months, then it’s off to college for them all. While this time of year if full of beginnings, it’s also full of endings…

Ending of musical theatre productions for our boys together.

The end of camping trips as we have experienced them.

The end of parenting as I know it.

So much planning and so many projects to complete, I’m finding being focused is a challenge for me right now.

Then add all the emotions I’m feeling on top of that…

Sigh.

Do you find yourself experiencing the same thing – having difficulty focusing on next steps?

 

Here’s what I know from tons of reports I’ve read and my own experience:

Focused Attention + Forward Movement = Completion

Study after study has shown that people who are focused on one task for 45-50 minutes without distractions get more done than those who don’t have parameters to their workday and allow interruptions.

The key is to plan your time; block it on your calendar and protect it.

Sounds ideal, doesn’t it?

Take it from someone who fought time blocking with all her might because it was too “constraining” and felt “too corporate”: it works. Period.

The most successful people are the most productive people.

When I time block my calendar, I make sure I know what I’m blocking time for. I make a list of all the stuff I do and then look at what I get paid to do. That takes priority. This helps me know what I can delegate, what can wait and what I can hire someone to do.

It also gets it outta my head.

My brain is not a good storage unit, so making a list creates the space I need in my head for ideas, problem solving and processing.

I use this in my personal life and right now, it’s a must do with all that’s coming up with our “endings”.

Time blocking is a way to make sure that what needs to get done gets done.

When I was a kid, my dad always used to say, “Plan your work and work your plan.” I’d roll my eyes (like every good teenager does) and go about my life. Little did I know how spot on he was.

One last thing. As a lover of list-making and checking off what I’ve accomplished, here is a word of caution: Choose wisely what goes on your list. Pick only those things that have to get done and have a due date, otherwise, you’ll end up with the mother of all lists and it will seem too daunting a task to complete.

I love this quote from Francine Jay, “My goal is no longer to get more done, but rather to have less to do.”

Yep.

Please share this post with someone you know is holding themselves back from realizing their own success. They’ll love you for it!