How do I get focused?

I’ve been asked this question a number of times. I’ve been in the sales and customer service industry for 15+ years, and during that time I’ve met a lot of people that have benefited hugely from knowing the answer and (more importantly) applying it.

Be present. That’s it!

These days there’s a million ways we can be distracted. Email, Facebook, texts, tweets, snapchats, conversation, phone calls the list goes on. All of these are road blocks to being present, and ultimately make you unfocused and unable to deliver your best. We tend to think of these distractions as part of our daily routines, however I believe that a better way to think of them would be as rewards. For every task you complete without being distracted by something else, you could take a “snapchat break” for a couple of minutes to catch up on what Gary Vaynerchuk is doing.

Think of all the times during your day that you try to balance multitasking. Emailing and talking, talking and texting or even texting and driving. Check out this little stat: “Each day in the United States more than 1,100 drivers are injured in car accidents due to distractions”. So it goes without saying that if some of us are willing to distract ourselves while driving, there’s an excellent chance that we’re doing it everywhere else too.

Being present is all about giving one task your undivided attention, and using singular focus to allow yourself the opportunity to enjoy what you’re doing. When you’re juggling two (or more) things at once your stress increases which reduces your ability to focus. By trying to balance two tasks at once they each get 50%, and you put yourself at risk of doing two things poorly.

Ultimately you want to do everything at 100%, so it makes sense that each individual task would get 100% of your attention. This is only possible by setting realistic goals, coupled with being present with each task until completion.

Tomorrow I want you to give it a go.

At lunch leave your phone in your pocket and be present in conversation, or take a book to somewhere quiet and watch how much more you enjoy the book. Speak to those around you and let them know what you’re trying to accomplish, as they will distract you less frequently and they may even try to be present more themselves.

Don’t be afraid to fail because we can all get better at being present, one attempt at a time of course though.