The relationship between focus and success
Imagine you’re working on starting your own business, and you start digging into the morning email to find that an investor has changed their mind and decided not to spot you money, the phone rings and your marketer is going to be out a few weeks due to an emergency surgery, the next email dashes your hopes of getting your website up by the time you wanted, and you realize you need to grab a cup of coffee for a meeting you have in 30 minutes.
Each instance jerks you in another direction, and there doesn’t seem to be a chance to focus on anything because it’s happening so fast.
An intro to focus
Some of us wear the multitasking badge with pride. It gives us a false sense of productivity and focus. Then when we have to focus on one thing, we realize it’s really hard.
If you research focus, you’ll find that success is often paired with it. Case in point, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett said focus was the most important attribute to their success. It makes sense. If you can’t follow through with one task before switching to another, it’s going to be a half-hearted effort, and it will take you a lot longer to finish. And successful people will tell you that time is the most valuable asset out there.
What you can do to strengthen your focus?
The article, “Your Concentration Training Program: 11 Exercises That Will Strengthen Your Attention,” from The Art of Manliness blog, is a great place to start if, like me, you need some pointers. Here are a few highlights from the article.
Take baby steps.
If you can’t focus for more than 5 minutes, don’t set a goal to focus for a 60-minute block right from the start. Using the Pomodoro Method, which is basically setting a timer to work a set amount of time and then taking a break for a certain amount of time, can help beef up your ability to focus.
Be real with yourself and set a realistic (even easy) goal at first, and work your way up. If you have to set that timer for 5 minutes and take a break for a few minutes, do it.
Read something slowly.
Take the time to read a long article or several pages of a book to help train yourself. The article mentioned above highlights several websites you can visit to read quality content, but if you prefer a book, read for 10–15 minutes. Every. Word.
What are successful people focusing on?
If you have the basics down and are more interested in what already successful people do to help them focus, check out Entrepreneur’s “14 Things Ridiculously Successful People Do Every Day.” You can find a few tips below.
Focus on one thing.
When you have a day like the one mentioned above or you’re the type of person who always has new ideas, focusing on one thing can seem impossible. Prioritize and work on the most important thing until it’s finished or you get to a point where you need to stop.
When you start something but get distracted (or bored) and move on to something else, that task is still in your subconscious. Not only will you be more productive by learning to focus and finish one thing at a time, you won’t be losing sleep or get distracted thinking about the task you didn’t finish. You’ll also save time because you won’t need to be reacquainted with the project before you start working on it again.
Delegate.
This can be tough if you don’t feel like you have enough resources or that you can’t trust people to do things the way you want them done. Realize that you can’t do everything, that you can use other people’s talent, and that you can’t be a perfectionist. You have to choose the most important tasks you need to accomplish and divvy up the rest.
Conclusion
Improving focus is a worthy endeavor. It allows us to be more productive, successful, and have more free time. But it also encourages other traits like perseverance, which is another key trait to being successful. If you haven’t read it yet, check out Tim Ferris’ 4-Hour Work Week. It will give you pointers on how to cut out the filler and help you think about focus in a whole new way.
