The (Bumpy But Worthwhile) Path Toward FOCUS

Jessie called in to our latest coaching meeting radiating enthusiasm, like sunshine beaming through the phone lines on that gray January day. 

“I am pumped!” she declared. “Over the holidays, I went into my office a few times. No one called, I received very few emails, and I had hours of quiet time to work, plan, think. I feel like I got more done in 3 days than I normally do in a month!”

The gift, Jessie shared, came in the form of FOCUS. “If I could experience that kind of closed-door, uninterrupted focus for a few hours every day – or even just a couple times a week – I’d be so much more productive.” 

If I gathered all of my coaching clients in a room and asked if they felt this way too, I bet 95% would agree. How about you? Do you start with good intentions but, before long, realize your day has been hijacked? How much does scattered activity cost you in terms of productivity, time, sanity, even money?

I actually do often recommend “closed-door time” to my coaching clients for visioning, strategic planning, and project completion. An open-door (or open-phone) policy typically doesn’t mean 24/7; if you were discussing a sensitive issue with an employee, for example, you’d close the door. You want to be available but also preserve healthy boundaries.

Since you likely cannot close your door and isolate yourself for hours upon hours each day (nor would you necessarily want to), you can take measures to increase your focus and make the best use of your time, such as: 

• Turn off notifications. I’ve read that when you get in the groove of a project, it takes 20 minutes to get back into that groove once you’ve been interrupted. Block a period of time for a project, then log out of email, turn off social media notifications, shut down the phone. Even a half-hour can prove extremely fruitful!

• Choose a daily (or 1/2-day) theme. Marketing Monday, Networking Wednesday…what actions require fair amounts of time and could be batched? For example, I typically coach clients Tuesday through Thursday and focus my attention elsewhere Monday and Friday; this helps with scheduling, intentional time management, and getting into that aforementioned groove. 

• Practice “Coffee Shop Focus.” Take one project – just one – and head to a different location. It works wonders! You can read about one of my experiences with this here.

• Be held accountable by someone else. My business and life absolutely transformed when I hired my first coach, and I have had one ever since. Decide what matters most, then hire someone who can help you make it a reality.

• Write your mission statement. “That one statement has changed my entire way of being,” a client recently shared. When you clarify your purpose, you start to make decisions in favor of it, clear away the excess, and more easily say ‘no’ to energy-draining activities. 

COACH CHRISTI’S CHALLENGE: Implement one of these ideas within the next week. You can start small, such as going to the coffee shop for 30 minutes, but make it a focused 30 minutes. Let me know how it goes!