Focus: 7 Ways to Eliminate Distraction

Distraction is the enemy of life.

Unfocused Leaders are stress filled bags of irritation. They jump from one thing to the next but ignore what they do in the present. A person who rushes to finish one thing so they can do the next thing is dying while they live.

Focus lowers anxiety when it centers on actions within your control.

“…focus means saying no….” Steve Jobs

Focus – 7 ways to eliminate distraction:

#1. Make commitments. Life is shallow for people afraid to commit.

#2. Adopt rituals. You learn habits so you don’t have to think. Rituals awaken. You practice rituals to infuse meaning into an activity.

#3. Choose a daily priority. Choose one thing – beyond day-to-day responsibilities – to accomplish today.

#4. Reject multitasking. Being present is paying attention to what you’re doing. Maintain focus by blocking out time on your calendar to complete tasks.

#5. Eliminate busy work. Filter activities with the Eisenhower Matrix. Create a 2X2 with urgent on one axis and important on the other. Focus on urgent and important.

“I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” Dwight Eisenhower

#6. Outlaw back-to-back meetings. Change one-hour meetings to 50 minutes and 30-minute meetings to 25 minutes.

#7. Take short breaks. Think like a sprinter. Act with intense focus. Rest, recover, repeat.

Evaluate:

Focus on your focus.

Notice when you are best able to focus. Adopt simple strategies to address distractions. Try closing the door or turning off notifications. You aren’t as necessary as you think. If you are necessary to day-to-day operations, you’re in the way.

Focus increases satisfaction – you know what you accomplished. Distraction turns to disenchantment.

Which of the above strategies do you find most useful?

How do you find focus?

Go deeper:

How the Power of Focus Protects You

How to Use Small Circles to Create Focus

The Focused Leader (hbr.org)