Checklists show you where you are, how much you have progressed, and what still needs to be done in order to achieve your goal.
Even if you suddenly fall sick and have to leave the office for a week, the moment you get back your checklist will be enough to bring you up to speed.
The quickest way to reaching your goal is to schedule your action steps – and stick to it. How many hours each day can you truly set aside for reaching your goal? What part of the day is the best time to work on reaching your goal?
A schedule also means having a specific place for you to do your work. Choose something that will benefit the kind of work that you are doing and the kind of person you are. Will something peaceful and quiet work more for you or do you prefer to be working outdoors and surrounded by sounds of nature?
It is not enough, of course, to simply make a schedule. Creating one is easy – it is the “doing” part that is difficult. To easily stick to your schedule, you have to turn it into a habit. Treat it as an integral part of your day that you absolutely cannot miss.
Your body does not automatically search for caffeine in the morning just because it wants to. It was trained to do so by repetitive action, strengthened by your own desire for a delicious cup of coffee. Your mind also does not look for its daily fix of quiz shows in the evenings for no reason. It was trained to do so as well.
So why can’t you train yourself to make your goal achievement schedule a part of your daily routine as well?
It is critical that you do not make any excuses. If you do, then the excuses will never stop. Your body has a “giving-in” muscle and every time you give in, it gets more powerful. Before you know it, that muscle has been flexed so much that it is impossible to ignore.
There are times when no matter how hard you try, you just cannot find the energy to do the work. Or perhaps you are too occupied or excited by something else that your goal focus is pushed to the back of your mind.
At times like this, there really is no other option left but to “negotiate” the terms of your schedule. If you planned to work four hours today yet you can only work three, then work an extra hour tomorrow or the day after.
It is important to specify the date for your negotiated term and to keep your word to yourself. This, however, is one thing that you absolutely must not make into a habit!
Distraction is your focus’ greatest enemy. Like temptation, it is insidious and will find all sorts of ways to mess with your concentration. Before you even start working, you should start by eliminating all possible sources of distraction.
Distraction can also be internal. These are those lingering doubts and worries that do nothing to help you reach your goal. Practice pushing them to the back of your mind. Keep practicing and they soon won’t be a bother at all!
Maybe you find lots of great information and stay connected with your network or market by keeping yourself online. Surely your personal life or business can exist for a few hours without being glued to Twitter and Facebook.
No matter how you look at it, Twitter, Facebook, forums and all the other ways to communicate with people online will only be a potential source of distraction.
When you schedule says it is goal focus time, then focus!
Numerous studies have already proven that meditation techniques – just like breathing exercises – are helpful in clearing your mind and improving your focus. If your emotions or pressures of the day is making it difficult for you to concentrate, meditating may get you re-focused.
You do not need to chant any mantras to meditate – although if you feel it will help, go ahead and do so. Just find a quiet place to sit and close your eyes and let your mind wander freely.
Do not lie down while meditating as you may end up sleeping instead. This tip comes from the voice of experience!
Sometimes, you can get burned out if you have been working too hard, too long. When this happens, it is okay to take a little breather from your schedule.
Time-outs cannot last forever. Make sure you time it to short break. If you are working only for a few hours, then ten to fifteen minutes should be enough. If, however, your schedule encompasses the whole day, then take an hour at most. Anything longer than that may drain your enthusiasm to get back to work.
According to the experts, sleep can have a significant impact on your ability to concentrate. Having enough hours of sleep will improve your concentration. Having too little, or even too much of it, may create problems with staying focused.
To get enough sleep every night, you should try keeping regular hours or at least have a fixed schedule for sleep.
Diet also has a lot to do with your ability to stay focused. A healthy meal plan for the day will go a long way in improving your mind’s ability to work and increase your stamina. Make sure you also take in enough vitamins and minerals as well. If necessary, take health supplements.
You may think that exercising has nothing to do with helping you reach your goals but actually it does.
At least that is what most scientific studies are suggesting. Like meditating and sleeping, a sufficient amount of daily exercise will also help improve the state of your mind. That you will get fitter and look more fabulous are just icing on the cake!
Find a way to make the process of achieving your goal enjoyable. Sometimes it only takes a change of scenery. Other times, you just have to find the right perspective to look at your situation.
When you are doing something you love, such as cooking, reading, or dancing, or your favorite hobby, then you have no problems concentrating, right? But if you are being forced to do something you hate, it seems like anything can take your mind off your work.
Focus is also dependent on pace. You may be trying to do things too fast or too slow for your brain to actually enjoy what you are doing.
When your pace is punishingly fast, you are more liable to commit mistakes. In your effort to save yourself time, you may be causing yourself to suffer greater delays since some of your tasks have to be redone or rectified.
Using an excessively slow or relaxing pace may not be the best answer either. Do not overestimate your ability to get some things done. Doing so might develop into procrastination.
Sometimes, working in the same place day in and day out can get a little boring, and your mind will start to wander. When you have tried your best to stay focused and you just can’t, then a change of setting may be in order.
Look for a different place – just for a day or two – to go when it is time to work on your goal. A new place may be enough to rekindle your interest. It may also help get your creativity flowing and give you an idea or two on how to better motivate yourself.
One of the best ways to stay focused is to be methodical. Do not choose a random point to start working toward your goal. Whatever it is you are aiming for – even if it is to improve your marriage or lose weight – there is sure to be a methodical or logical system for doing it.
Taking a methodical approach helps improve your focus because it enables you to see where you are going. If you are feeling a little stuck or not sure of what to do next, a just keep taking the next step in the process.
The truth is, some people find music relaxing and helpful in their work. Others, however, find it too relaxing and they end up forgetting all about the task at hand.
You have to determine for yourself if music will serve as an aid to improving your focus or a distraction instead?
Well-meaning friends may encourage you to try this and that to improve your focus. There is nothing wrong in listening to their advice. Remember, however, that every person is built differently. What may work for them may not work for you.
In the end, the best way to improve your focus is to do what works for you and not others.
Some people will try to make you feel guilty about the time you are devoting to your goal. If your goal is important to you and not unethical or immoral, cruel or harmful to yourself or anyone, then you have all the right in the world to devote yourself to it.
One of the worst kinds of distraction is emotional conflict. This kind of problem eats away at your concentration. If there is anything that is bothering you, resolve it right away before getting back to work.
Do not allow it to fester inside you. The longer you delay resolving such conflicts, the harder it will be to find a solution.
If you are torn between doing two things, you have to give yourself an ultimatum. Which is the more important priority – the goal you are working on or the alternative?
Be brutally frank with yourself as you consider your options. If you have to choose then decide which of them are you willing to live without?
People have different energy patterns for various reasons. Some people, for instance, simply feel more energized to work in the middle of the night because there are fewer distractions.
Others like to work first thing in the morning because it makes them feel productive. Their energy then wanes closer to lunch time but jumps back up when it is in the early evening.
Try to familiarize yourself with your energy pattern. Think back on the days you especially productive. When are you typically more efficient in completing your work? When are you less than diligent working on your tasks?
Maximize your time by delegating appropriate tasks to other capable people. This allows you to concentrate on the most critical tasks.
Your focus will be fragmented if you have a million things to do and you are worrying the most about only a few of them. This is a recipe for mental paralysis.
Do yourself a favor. Find people whom you can trust to do a part of your work. Then devote yourself to doing what you feel needs the most of your attention.
Say you were given one whole cake to eat. Should you swallow it down in one bite? It would be pretty impossible to make an entire cake fit in your mouth, but you can definitely eat it all if you cut it into several slices. From there, you can eat a slice of cake one bite after another.
Sometimes, focusing on the bigger picture alone is not helpful. There are times when you have to forget about the bigger picture for a while and concentrate on one part of the picture at a time.
Nobody is perfect. There will be times when nothing you can do is right. It is critical that you prepare beforehand for this and make allowances for mistakes.
If you can complete a task in thirty minutes, try giving yourself forty minutes instead. This way, you will not be terribly backed up if you make a mistake or two. Giving yourself allowances will also prevent your mistakes from breaking your stride. You will keep going – no matter what – like an Energizer bunny!
Memory and focus are intertwined in many ways. As such, improving your memory will consequently improve your ability to concentrate.
There are many ways to improve your concentration. You can find free exercises online or in the resources at the end of this book. You can also try joining a memory training workshop or read a memory enhancement book. There are also memory training software programs that you could try.
Whether your goal is personal, work-related, or something else, there will be a time when your goal requires you to read something.
The world’s fastest readers do not really read every. Rather, most speed readers are good at skimming and finding context clues. Their mind and eyes are trained to find the most important parts of each page and paragraph. Even if they have a limited amount of time to finish reading something, they will not have any problems grasping the most essential points of the text.
The written word is one of the most common things that many people have a hard time focusing on. You can avoid this problem if you just take the time to learn how to read effectively.
No one is too smart to stop learning. You will have an easier time focusing on new topics or tasks if train yourself not to be reluctant to learn about new things.
Granted, old dogs have a hard time learning new tricks, but surely you have more brain cells and willpower than canines?
Knowledge is a beautiful thing and you should not turn your back on the opportunity to learn something new if it will help you.
Faith is God is purely personal – just like goals are. I know from personal experience that prayer matters. I would not begin a plan of action with asking for a little bit of divine intervention. As the Bible says, ask and ye shall receive.
If you are tempted to give up on what you are doing, remind yourself of the consequences of not achieving your goal. If they are significant then you will get back on track.
Say you want to lose weight. If you eat that extra cup of rice tonight, it would mean having to spend an extra hour in the gym tomorrow. If you fail to do that, it will mean having your weight increase by two pounds. That, in turn, means not being able to fit into that new swimsuit you wanted to wear to the beach party – which the guy of your dreams is sure to attend.
Now ask yourself again – do you still want to give up on your goal and eat that cup of rice?
Most of the time the goals you want to achieve affect others as well. Say it is your goal to increase profits by 25% by the end of the year. If you do not reach your goal in time, then you will not be able to give your staff the Christmas party and end-of-the-year bonuses they so richly deserve.
If you do not care about the consequences you will suffer by losing focus, then consider how those depending on you might be impacted.
Phones are also a source of distraction. Change your phone’s message to let people know that you absolutely cannot afford to be disturbed.
Be sure, however, to let them know that you will be checking your email and voice message inbox regularly. Just because the phone rings does not mean you always have to answer right then.
It doesn’t need to be more than that because you should only reply to emails that are absolutely require a response. Anything less than important should be set aside. You have to be very firm about this rule or you will end up procrastinating on your goal again.