In case you haven’t noticed, most of us are busier than ever in all aspects of our lives. It is easy to think we need to zip from one intense situation to the next, feeling like we are not able to give full attention to all that is coming our way in our professional and personal worlds.
Over the last decade or so we have become masters of business multi-tasking. The professional climate is shifting from multi-tasking to honing the skill of focusing to a new level. A successful business person these days needs to be able to focus laser-like on what is in front of them and complete whatever phase of decision and action is needed. The tricky part of that is to become the master of doing that at the brisk pace established in the multitasking era.
A good way to set a solid foundation for this next phase of professional nimbleness is to go back to the core of your business – your mission and vision statements. Go ahead and take them out and review them thoroughly. Perhaps ask all key people for their perspectives. Since the world has shifted so much in the past few years, maybe you have gotten a little off course from your original intent. Is what is written there still true now? Maybe you have accomplished your previous objective. Do you want to adjust and refine your mission and vision? This is the first step in honing your focus.
As you bring things into focus, use your discernment, and pay attention to details. This is the time to be involved, not just let go and adapt. Stand tall in what it is you are desirous of achieving, obtaining, being, doing, and having. The laser light of your focus will make clear where to steer in order to successfully navigate these new waters.
Distraction is our biggest adversary and it would be helpful to determine what a distraction is for you. There are the personal distractions to consider as well as company distractions. This isn’t easy as our whole worlds are set up so that we have to process massive amounts of information daily to be a high functioning professional. Once you figure out what your key distractions are, do your best to catch them as soon as you can and go back to what you were focusing. For example, if you are working on an email response to one person and you see another email come in that also requires prompt attention, find a way to not get pulled away for too long so you lose your momentum on your first project. Complete that one and then turn your attention fully to the next email.
The amazing thing about developing this enhanced skill of focusing is that you will find that you accomplish more projects in a more satisfactory manner than through just relying on multi-tasking. Don’t just take my word for it – go ahead and experiment with this technique this month and see for yourself. You deserve to add a little focus-pocus to your world!
