When spending a great amount of time working on anything, it’s hard to not stay focused on the task at hand. Sometimes our mind tends to wonder on what will be the results of this hard work – the fruits of our labor. For me focusing is a HUGE problem. After a while my mind tends start imagining what would come of all the many hours that I have placed into a particular project. But I have learned when I stop myself from doing that, and focus on the task at hand – I tend to have better results.
By placing importance on hours and physical presence over action and results leads to a culture of inefficiency (and anxiety). The pressure of being required to sit at your desk until a certain time creates a factory-like culture that ignores a few basic laws of idea generation and human nature: (1) When the brain is tired, it doesn’t work well, (2) Idea generation happens on its own terms, (3) When you feel forced to execute beyond your capacity, you begin to hate what you are doing.
Of course, there is no short-cut for the perspiration required to make ideas happen. But the time required to complete a project successfully must reveal itself rather than be dictated. If you care about your work, you will do what it takes to get it done right. As such, your performance should be measured by your ability to get work done on time and done well. Your decisions about when and how you completed the work should not matter.
The key is to remain focused on the task at hand and not what will come out of it. Here are a few ways to help you achieve this:
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Keep a mental picture of what you want to achieve at all times, this attracts it to be manifested with in your life. See yourself there and try to feel how you would if you were there already. The only thing that is keeping you from being there is you and only you, so allow yourself to be there in any way possible. We are all capable of achieving our goals, it’s just a matter of time. By seeing or acting as if you already achieved your goals, you’ll find new focus on why you are working towards your goals.
Break It Up
If you are like me and working completely alone to achieve these goals you have set for yourself, then I suggest breaking that work up into smaller pieces. It is best and easier to work as if you’re making a jigsaw puzzle, instead of making a 20 foot wall mural. This will help keep you motivated and focused due to the fact that you are continuously accomplishing small pieces of the goals.
Keep Them Away
Don’t listen to the nay-sayers, if someone thinks you’re a little nuts, or don’t have faith in what you can accomplish, then forget about them. These people are just a little upset that they don’t have the drive, as you do, to shoot for the stars. Don’t completely blame them either, it’s just that society has a way of conditioning people into staying in their safe and cozy comfort zones. If you let them affect you, your focus will dissipate, and we don’t want that.
New Found Territory
Stay out of your comfort zone, being successful is all about taking risks and doing what is commonly not done in our society – taking the path less traveled. If you stay in your comfort zone, you’ll be relaxed and that may lead you to forgetting about your goals – floating in limbo while you wait for something to happen is never good. Avoid your comfort zone, if you’re kind of uncomfortable it may mean that you are climbing higher into new and unchartered territory you have never been in, and that is exactly where you want to be.
Review It
Go over everything you’ve accomplished at the end of the week to boost yourself, and then see what are your upcoming tasks for the next week. This exercise keeps you focused by providing you with hard facts about where you’ve been and where you’re going next. Always write down everything that you have been doing and anything you want to do. Use a planner, a calendar, excel, word, or whatever you want to use to write down everything, and go over it once or twice a week – but just do it. I usually go over everything every morning while I sip on my cup of coffee or tea, it helps me to concentrate and see the bigger picture more clearly, keeping me from blanking out that day and ending up not doing anything.
Let it out
One of the things that has always helped me with my goals is talking about them. I’ll talk about where I am, problems I need to fix, new goals I have added to my list, or how much work I have left to accomplish any of them. By speaking about your goals to trusted friends and even family members, you create support for your ideas, and hey who knows, they may even help you see something you haven’t. It’s always good to let it out, don’t keep it in as if it was a secret – silence is not the way, you need to talk about it.
A New Perspective
Sometimes it’s helpful to walk away from a certain project or goal your working towards for a couple of days to let it brew in your mind. You may find out that once you come back to it, you may have a new perspective angle towards it that you may not have had before. This is where your mind subconsciously works out problems it couldn’t before, due to the fact that you never gave yourself the time to soak it in. It’s the same way as if you planted a seed, if you continuously stare at it for several days it may not seem as it’s growing, but if you walk away for a couple of days and come back to it, you’ll notice new things about it. This will fuel you, gaining a new found focus in achieving your goals.
Keep At It
One of the most important things to keep in mind, is that when you are closest to quitting is when you are in fact closest to achieving your goals. If you feel like you desperately need to quite on your goals, don’t. This comes from an old Chinese proverb and it has proven its wisdom over and over. I’ve been in many situations where I can’t seem to continue on, but that’s only a mental barrier, a conditioned thing you have inside you that is trying to sabotage you from achieving your goals. We are all prone to this pressure and most circum to it. Don’t follow the masses, you are different, if you continue, you will probably succeed. Just keep at it, and you will soon enjoy the real fruits of your labor.
Live It
Most people keep work and life on separate sides of the spectrum, when in fact you need to merge them together in a harmonious balance. Working isn’t negative, and always try to keep this mind set. It’s one of the things that gives us value. By making your work part of your daily life, your goals will be achieved at an overall smoother and better rate and you will maintain a healthy focus. Though you must always remember to keep a balance, don’t be engulfed by either or, you won’t be useful to anyone if you burn out.
No Burn Outs
Don’t ever let yourself burn out, and if you do, take a vacation or something. I’m very ambitious towards all my goals, but I also respect “time out” sessions once in a while. If you get sick just by looking at something you’re suppose to be working on, then just leave it for a while and work on something else or try to relax. If you make time to relax then you’ll refresh yourself. Each one of us has our certain cap of tolerance towards any given thing before we need to recharge again. Understand and respect your tolerance cap. Keep it balanced and even if you “have to” do something – blow it off. By giving yourself time to recharge and relax, you’re in turn refilling your focus meter so that you can continue without hindering your productivity.
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