We all have a hundred different ideas that we feel could be a smashing success in our industry.
Whether it be the idea for a new product or service, there’s more ideas than there is time.
This is where you need to learn to reign in all of those ideas you have and construct an action plan that not only fleshes those ideas out so you can weed out the likely winners from the duds, but it will help you focus on boosting productivity.
Why do you need to do this?
Because it’s been proven that the human brain can’t focus on more than one thing at a time.
When we try to divide our attention, we end up scattered. Our quality also suffers. While learning to multi-task may seem like a great idea, narrowing your focus so that you’re tackling one task at a time will always produce better results.
So, what can you do when you have more ideas to grow your business than you have time for?
Begin by jotting down the top ideas that come to mind. Don’t write summaries or get carried away with hashing out the details. Instead, write down titles for each idea.
Then, tear them apart, one-by-one. Be realistic with your expectations and the time you have to spend on each project. Think about your core audience and what they’d be most interested in.
Create a priority list based on all the ideas you have. Again, keep your audience in mind because the ideas you have may not align with what your market is actively looking for.
Otherwise, you’ll spend more time thinking about and analyzing ideas, versus bringing those ideas to life.
A project management system is a great tool when it comes to not only fleshing out potential ideas but in staying on track with the projects you’re working on.
Day-to-day operations can be exhausting to keep track of. With a system in place that makes it easy for you to assign value to projects, allocate time and be able to generate a quick snapshot at where you are during each project will make it easier to stay focused on your end goals.
There are countless project management tools available to you including Asana and Basecamp.
You can easily create schedules using Google Calendar found here:
https://gsuite.google.com/learning-center/tips/calendar
By now you probably realise that there are different ways you can improve focus and subsequently, increase productivity and quality output and I have covered a number of them in this and other blog posts.
And now I want to give you a few more tips and strategies that I hope will help you. You can never have enough ways to boost your productivity, right?
Previously I have mentioned the importance of narrowing your focus down to one main goal at a time since it’s been proven that our brain responds better when we are working on one project at a time, rather than attempting to multi-task.
Use project management tools such as Asana or Basecamp to help you stay on track.
What projects aren’t panning out? What do you feel is less likely to be a success?
What tasks could be wiped off the to-do list? Take a step back and evaluate the things you’re spending your time on, staying on the lookout for ways to free up your time and improve your focus.
This is an important one when it comes to staying focused. If you’re finding yourself burned out working on tasks that you are simply not interested in, chances are the quality of your projects won’t be up to par.
Instead, learn to delegate the tasks that you don’t personally enjoy. Not only will you be able to increase output, but you’ll be able to provide a higher level of quality to your customer base by turning to the experts.
Struggling to complete a task because you lost focus?
And finally…
We all struggle with focusing on tasks, especially repetitive or mundane ones. Even the most organized of us all has those moments where no matter what we do to try to refocus on our goals, it feels as though we’ll never get ahead.
So cut yourself some slack when this happens. Acknowledge the fact that you can only do so much. Sometimes taking a step back and giving ourselves permission to simply take a creative break is enough to boost productivity and re-focus on the bigger picture.
Here are some steps to take that may help you with that:
Well, as I’m sure you can appreciate, there is a lot more to be learnt about increasing focus and productivity; far more than can be covered in this short post, but if you’d like to know more about this, then click on the featured resource below where you can pick up a free report, Stay Focused For Success, that covers this topic in more detail. Download, read it and take action 😊
A lot of people claim they know the secret to success. They will claim it is motivation, ambitiousness, positivity, conscientiousness and all sorts of other abstract nouns.
However they are missing the true vital ingredient, the real key that will get you started on the road to success to begin with: desire.
It is obvious really, but if you are going to be successful in any area of your life then you need to want to be successful. It does not matter how hard working you are, how much time you spend at work, but if you do not particularly want to climb to the top it just will not happen.
Anything along these lines is a competition essentially, and if you do not truly desire success then you’ll still be going against a whole lot of people who do.
And the more you desire something the more you’ll work to get it. And as you do you’ll find that you subconsciously even help to navigate through the mire of challenges and that the world just kind of steps out of the way.
Of course not all desire will work. Firstly your desire needs to be realistic, and secondly your desire needs to be concrete. A desire to fly for example probably is only going to end with disappointment unless you are from Krypton, and a desire to ‘be more successful’ is an abstract aim that’s really quite subjective.
Some people though do not seem to have any desire at all however, and these people can be quite aimless in their lives. They aren’t going to progress because they do not know how they want to progress and they do not know what they want from life. The thing is though, everyone has something they want, it is just a matter of finding out what it is.
Maybe you have got a big house and kids, or a small house and great artistic job, or you are a movie star, or a high flying businessman. Now you know what your desires are, write them down and break them down into smaller steps and priorities. Suddenly you have direction and motivation. So, you can now see the power of changing your mindset, so let’s look at 5 ways you can grow a positive mindset…
Want to start changing your life? Then you need to change yourself. You are in the position you’re in right now because you chose to be there.
You might not realize that you chose it but even through your inaction, you in fact did. The job you have right now, your financial circumstances and nearly every other aspect of your life is a matter of choice – and if you wanted to, you could go out there and change everything today. You just need to take action!
But if you really want to make a change and you want to start by changing your fixed mindset, how do you know where to start? What is it you need to change in order to achieve a growth mindset? Here are five top tips that will help make that transformation much easier…
Most of us have a clear idea of what success means but this is an idea that we have inherited from our schools and our parents.
In order to be truly successful, you need to find your own path and that is going to mean forgetting what others think and finding what makes you happy.
Learning to take risks is a difficult step but if you’re going to achieve the things you really want in life, you need to take the leap sometimes.
Learn to take measured, calculated risks.
And the key is that they are calculated risks; don’t become overzealous when risk taking, but you need to be less cautions.
You know what they say “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
Taking risks means being prepared to fail. In this instance, you need to learn how to manage failure and take it on the chin. Pick up the pieces and go again for round two!
Try reframing failure as a learning process and always “fail forward” on your way to success.
Sometimes success doesn’t come in the form we expect. Sometimes we don’t know what we need to be happy.
That’s why it can be useful to break down our dreams to their essence. What is it about that idea that appeals to you and what’s the easiest way to get there?
Some people will call this finding your reason why, but no matter what you call it, you need to find it.
By the way, if you want to know more about this, take a look at this great training here: Finding Your Why
Knowing how important that passion is to you, you now need to invest in yourself and be willing to spend both time and money on everything from your appearance to your skill set.
There is no better investment that investing in you!
Changing the way you think requires self discipline and if you want to know more about harnessing the power of self discipline, check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 🙂
Think back to the last time you had a surge of motivation. Try to remember how it made you feel. What was going through your mind then? If you can’t remember, that’s okay. Just be ready for it when it happens again. If you do remember or find it’s happening again, considering recording your thought processes in a journal.
Sometimes, when you can jar your memory on how you got motivated or stayed motivated, you can reproduce that again. If you record your feelings and actions in a journal, you can simply refer to the journal anytime you need to get that back.
Consider using an actual paper journal rather than recording online. Documents tend to get lost online, and people often forget. With a physical journal in front of you, it will show itself at every moment.
This way when you need that push, you can simply open up the journal and start reading. However, if you feel that you can make it work with an online journal, go for it.
You can also record motivational tips from others into your journal that you find. This gives you more to draw from when you have a need to motivate. Sometimes, these tips can happen in the strangest places, so make sure you have a way of capturing if you don’t have your journal with you for some reason.
Another benefit to keeping a journal about your motivations is you could eventually turn it into a book and sell it. Self-help and motivation is a huge topic for both eBooks and courses.
Also, the fact that you are drawing from true situations that you experience will go a long way when producing your book. People love true stories about motivation.
Don’t worry about what you write in your journal. The key is to keep consistent with it. If you write something that doesn’t make sense or is silly, either disregard it or remove it from your journal.
When you find a job, you try to do your best work for your employer. Assuming you work for a decent company, they will recognize you for performing well. If you’re lucky, you may even get a raise and a promotion. If you are good at your job, why don’t you start working for yourself and reap the rewards?
People who start their own business often find they are less motivated when the rubber meets the road. In theory, it sounds great to be your own boss. But, the reality sets in, and you now have to handle every aspect of your business. This is something you didn’t have to do when working for someone else.
It’s much easier to do what others say than it is to motivate yourself to run your business. First, we are not born with business acumen. We need to learn how to run a business, and we need to find people willing to pay us for our products and services. Even when we do learn these crucial concepts, there’s no guarantee that we’ll succeed with them.
The manager or boss took responsibility to know what needs to get done and hands out assignments accordingly. The manager is also taking on problems that you may run into and deals with other outside entities, so you don’t have to.
When you run things for yourself, you have none of those working for you. It’s all incumbent upon you to take care of everything. Even if you hire others, you are now the boss. There is no longer any buffer. You are it.
Hiring people can still be a great way to take some of the responsibilities off of your plate. For instance, if you don’t have time to bring in new business, hire a good salesperson or team. Pay them well and let them take on this task.
If you can’t deal with billing, hire someone for this task as well. There are third-party services that you can use, so you don’t have to increase your staff count.
This is not meant to discourage you from branching out on your own. You just have to be aware that it’s a whole different arrangement than when you worked for someone else.
The news is always harping on about tax breaks or other incentives given to businesses to attract or keep them in a town, state or country.
These stories often present the dark side of incentives. It shows the evil giant corporation taking advantage of the state incentives. There is some truth to this, but without those incentives, those businesses will look elsewhere.
These businesses often get criticized for not being good corporate citizens in the areas where they get the incentives. They use up the resources of the community while giving little or nothing back.
The idea behind incentives is certainly a good one. Encourage businesses to build or update the business in exchange for tax breaks, tax credits, or some other benefit. This does motivate businesses to come or stay in that area. But, it is often a one-sided deal with the business driving the process. When this happens, the business gets to dictate the terms. This is why hiring tends to be less than they promised and community development from the business falls by the wayside.
Governments also like to save corporations when they get into trouble. Essentially, they throw money at the company in the hope that it will somehow magically start being profitable again. Money doesn’t help bad companies. It only prolongs the inevitable.
Some may argue that even if companies don’t hire the number of people they promised, at least they are hiring. There is some truth to this, but it’s at a cost to the taxpayer. Are the fewer number of employees going to generate enough economic benefit to make the incentives worthwhile?
It’s clear that businesses will be motivated to find the best incentives to set up shop. On the surface, it seems like it makes sense. However, what typically transpires is that it never works as well for the community as it was supposed to.
In the 1980’s, several Japanese companies set up business in the United States. Many of them refused to take the tax incentives at the time. They felt that the community needed the money and that the company is a member of the community.
As you can appreciate, changing the way you think can have a huge impact on your life, and if you want to know more about developing an inspirational mindset for success, please click on the featured resource below for a free Strong Mindset report; download, read it and take action 😊
We live in an era of information overload. We are bombarded with media, technology, entertainment, and notifications every day. It seems there are hundreds of people and things competing for your attention at any given time. There is no wonder why in the last few years, our attention spans have become shorter and our ability to focus has decreased.
Let’s begin by examining some productivity maximizers that make us more productive. We will discuss tips and techniques to help improve your focus. Then let’s look at how holding yourself accountable can help you to improve your productivity today! Finally, we’ll look at how you can start to set time limits on projects to keep you on track.
Hacking your mind to increase your productivity is just one part of the process.
The next relies on maximizing that productivity. You’ll need to decrease burn out, as well as focus on the end results.
In addition, learning to turn your goals into processes will help you get more done.
Burnout is a very real problem that affects your productivity. The work-life balance is hard to achieve, but it is necessary.
Symptoms of burnout:
It’s clear that a burnout period can make it even tougher to get your tasks done. Thankfully, there are some tricks to help you get out of this slump.
Some of them involve taking time for yourself.
Not only will these activities help prevent burnout, but with them, you can overcome it. You’ll end up much more productive as a result.
What’s the end result of the items on your “to do” list? By focusing solely on the goal instead of the individual tasks, you’ll be more likely to get everything done.
The end result can be either big or small.
By changing how you think about your tasks, you’ll be able to achieve more. The process stops being about getting one thing done and instead focuses on meeting a goal.
Stop thinking about your goals as events, and instead, consider them processes instead. The difference lies in learning how to enjoy everything that it takes to meet those goals. Once you love what you do, you’ll want to work harder.
Now let’s take a look at accountability.
If you’re struggling to get things done, it’s easy to switch up your routine believing that will help you get back on track.
Sometimes this is effective, sometimes it only makes it harder to refocus our attention where it’s needed most.
What can we do to refresh and refocus so that our attention and energy is going on the things that matter? And where is that time going?
Were you spending too much time in email or on social media trying to respond to customers or provide instant support?
If so, consider outsourcing support inquiries to a live agent or support desk so that you aren’t constantly distracted by people who need your time while still being able to provide prompt service.
P.S. Want to know more about outsourcing? Click here for a great post to read and you can also get a detailed outsourcing report here .
Did you fail to prioritize tasks and goals and ended up losing focus because you are constantly multi-tasking in an effort to catch up?
If so, consider using a product management tool that will guide you through each workday. The key is to develop a regular routine, along with work habits that improve your focus and workflow.
It’s also important to know when your struggle to focus is your body’s way of saying it’s had enough.
Instead, give yourself time for creative breaks so that you’re able to reenergize and boost that productivity.
Burn out is a real thing and it’s the #1 focus killer so learning to hold yourself accountable while still also giving yourself room to take those necessary breaks so that you’re able to boost creativity and output is important.
It’s easy to get caught up spending more time on a project that you initially planned. We can always find ways to tweak and improve our brand, services and products – but the problem is that not all of this time is wisely spent.
Let your market dictate the time you allocate to your projects.
Here are a few tips to help you improve focus and boost productivity:
Set time limits on every single task – no exceptions.
Lay out the groundwork for each project you are working on, including a complete overview of how to get from start-to-finish. Then, create to a schedule and stick to it!
Not only will doing this help you get more done in less time, but it will immediately improve your focus because you are allocating a specific amount of time to one thing – and following through with it.
We can easily waste a ton of valuable time by trying to get everything done at one but without creating a priority list that outlines the most critical steps in the process of reaching your goal, we can end up struggling to meet deadlines.
WANT TO Doesn’t Mean You HAVE TO.
When you’re running short on time and you’re struggling to focus, a priority list becomes even more important.
And by breaking your tasks down into chunks that are assigned a clear value, you’ll be able to zero in on the parts of your business that need more attention while freeing up valuable time.
Prioritization is a crucial skill to master so take the time to get used to it.
This is a critical step in staying focused. It begins with creating a strategy and regular routine based on when you are most productive, creative and able to produce without distractions.
Do you have to shut off your phone, close your email, or fire up a playlist in order to spring into action?
Your work environment is just as important as your overall workflow. You should do everything possible to separate your personal life from your work life so that you are able to eliminate distractions and focus on your priority list.
Boundaries are very important for productivity so try to make use of them if at all possible.
If you’re allowing negative thoughts and self-doubt to lead the way, you’ll never have enough faith in your abilities to see things through.
You’ll not only take longer to get ahead, but chances are you’ll never reach your desired destination.
Well, there is a lot more to be learnt about increasing focus and productivity; far more than can be covered in this short post, but if you’d like to know more about this, then click on the featured resource below where you can pick up a free report that covers this topic in more detail. Download, read it and take action 😊
Humans have developed to use our imaginations for all kinds of purposes. Whether it is for comfort, entertainment, safety, or protection, our own imagination performs many jobs in our day to day lives that we rarely, if ever, even think about.
Visualizing can be a powerful tool in our self-help and self-preservation toolkit. The process can be undertaken at any time of the day, in virtually any situation you can think of. All you really need is your brain, and since that’s already with you all the time, you’re all set!
Creative visualization is also a technique anyone can learn, yet it promises to give you your heart’s desires and set you on a course for personal success. What is this powerful tool, and can it really deliver what it promises?
Creative visualization is a specific way of using your imagination. It’s a cognitive process that consists of forming vivid mental images. You consciously change the images, which in turn changes your emotions about the subjects of the images. As you practice visualizing the future you want, you create that future. I can be incredibly motivating when done well, and we all need more motivation, don’t we?
Clearly, we will choose one outcome over the rest that appeals to us the greatest, and we can then focus on attaining that outcome.
You know how famous people often claim to have “visualized” their success long before it ever happened for them in real life? It’s the power of creative visualization that they are harnessing.
And once you see yourself as already having “achieved” your goal (whatever it may be), then your intuition and sense of “inner knowing” will light the proper path.
It doesn’t matter what the outcome is. You might be surprised to know that you can use creative visualization to attain any goal at all – there is no right or wrong.
The next step, once the goal has been established, is to use your imagination to discover steps you can take to actually get to those places – the beach, the slimmer body, or making more money. A dream is only a dream if there is no action taken. Once you begin taking action, it’s a plan!
Creativity is so important in this process. Without creativity and imagination, you can’t envision what you want to have and what you want to be.
Use your imagination to fuel your future!
No matter who you are, where you come from, or what your ultimate goals are, creative visualization can help you.
We all want to succeed in life, and success is going to mean something different to each individual person. When you consider it, every one of our ancestors was a success, because they continued to live and reproduce. That bodes well for our potential success, too!
To someone else success means a cabin in the woods with a woodstove and enough cut wood to make it comfortably through the winter. Success is completely subjective, and there are no right or wrong answers.
Creative visualization is one very powerful way to see yourself through to whatever success means to you. By visualizing the desired outcome, you can also creatively brainstorm the action steps you’ll need to take to get to that outcome.
Momentum is key here – once you’ve begun practicing creative visualization, you’ll begin to see changes in your life that you may never have expected!
Creative visualization has also been used very successfully to change negative ingrained habits into positive habits!
Let’s say you’re prone to procrastination. It’s clear what you need to do. You know the deadline as well. Yet, no matter how much you know what needs to be done, you still don’t do it.
At the end, you are always rushing to get the tasks done in time for the deadline, creating horrible stress for yourself, and doing a less than stellar job.
The next step would be to creatively visualize how you’d feel if you didn’t have that habit anymore. How great would it feel to have every work assignment scheduled out and delivered on time?
Maybe you’d even get a raise! And how awesome would it be to not have that last-minute stress of being under the gun with your projects?
Creative visualization can help you help yourself and turn your bad habits into positive action!
As you can probably appreciate, mindset is incredibly important in your life, and if you want to know more about developing a strong mindset, check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 😊
