For most of us distractions are everywhere on our phones, tablet, TV, laptop, friends, family or significant others. Distractions can stop us from reaching our full potential and achieving the goals we have set for our lives. Often times we have a goal we have been working on for months, years or maybe more. Then what I like to call “dream blockers” seem to always appear. No matter what our goals is distractions or obstacles will occur. Which causes us to lose focus on working towards our goal and taking the necessary steps to make them happen. Regardless of all our late nights, early mornings and weekends of chipping away at our goals and dreams. Many times, doubt and fear start to rear its ugly head and we begin to think thoughts such as “Am I good enough”, “Is my goal unrealistic”, or “Will I ever achieve this goal or should I try something different”. All these negatives thoughts can come from a combination of places distracting us from our purpose. Here are five methods we can utilize to eliminate distractions and focus on our goals!
- Turn off all electronics – If you’re anything like me your phone is bombarded by notifications throughout the day whether it’s my email, social media platforms, text messages or phone calls. These notifications can distract us from our daily task that we need to do to get closer to our goals. A method anyone can adopt is the at least an hour a day method. When for at least an hour a day you put down all electronics and focus on a task without any distractions. This time can be utilized to focus on a particular task and lose the extra noise.
- Reduce chaos & focus on 2-3 important tasks daily – For most all goals there are about 20 to 30 tasks a day that we need to complete. Majority of the time when we try to focus on all these tasks at once our focus is terrible. Thus, we tend to lose focus and become scatterbrained. Therefore, its more effective to break down our task to the necessities concentrating on 2-3 tasks a day (even one is fine).
- Focus on the daily grind – An easy way to destroy our focus is to look at our goal as some huge esoteric accomplishment that it is. Most goals will take at least a few weeks to years to accomplish depending on what our goals is. The time it takes to complete a goal can discourage us from even starting. This separates from the people who dream about their goal and the ones who are working every day to achieve it. For example, if your goal was to become a better writer and you wanted to be published on the Huffington Post or the New York Times. Before concentrating on submitting proposals to these publications you would work on your writing daily. An easy task to get started is to write at least 200 words per day with a minimum of 7 sentences per day. The key is not to focus on the overall goal, but on daily task that will get us closer to said goal.
- Implement focus practice – Utilizing focus exercises can improve our overall discipline. The most popular practice is meditation when we truly focus and relax our minds. This helps with discipline and focus that we can apply to our daily lives. Another focus practice is Pomodoro technique using a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. This technique can also help with concentration and has be used in fortune 500 companies for 20 plus years.
- Keep your vision/goals in mind – Always keep your goals or vision in the forefront of your mind. If you want to be a singer, writer, work from home, lose weight or become financially free. Knowing what we need to focus on can help us push through when times get rough and we feel like giving up. This is when we remind ourselves what we’re sacrificing for and keep pushing towards our predestined greatness.
Final Thoughts
If you think back to our school days we were never taught how to learn and focus, but how to shut-up, be quiet and maybe learn something. Thus, it was pretty much a hit or miss if we actually retained the information we were given. Therefore, we have to learn how to focus and master the ability to concentration.
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Great message Jay. 🙂
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Thank you!
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Excellent advice, particularly about electronics.
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Very true thanks for reading
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These are very well thought out, great tips, thanks!
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Thank you for reading
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Great post, Jay! Thanks for sharing – I needed to read this today.
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Thank you & I’m glad you enjoyed it!
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You know very well that it is our so-called ‘multi-tasking’ that interferes with focus. At least for me! I used to use the excuse that my brain was going so fast, in trying to keep focus, and then it is the aging process…then it’s ADD, etc… It is compounded, no matter the label, by all of our tech-type distractions. Please cover a few relaxation/meditation techniques and exercises, as focus is often compromised by multi-sensory overload. Thanks for the insight, Jay!
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You nailed it again Jay. Words to follow on the road to achieving more.
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Thank you!
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Great post! I like the way you broke down common barriers to focus and gave specific suggestions about how to combat them–I’m looking forward to putting your advice into practice!
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Thank you & that’s great let me know how it goes!!
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I love Step 1!
Something i do for a long time already (and longer than an hour). You can get so much more done and focus so much better.
The other steps are pretty good too 🙂
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Great post, Jay. I also recommend writing out what steps you need to take to accomplish something. I do that and use it to evaluate my progress and as a To Do list.
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Great advice just for me . Thanks Jay!
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Thank you for reading!
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Your welcome !! 🙂
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I enjoyed reading this. When I thought back to the “good old days” I realised that staying focused was a lot easier as electronics were mostly something seen in sci-fi movies, so there were no notification noises or emails to check as the postman showed up just once per day.
Yes, I am not a millennial. 🙂
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You hit the nail on the head with this paragraph “If you think back to our school days we were never taught how to learn and focus, but how to shut-up, be quiet and maybe learn something. Thus, it was pretty much a hit or miss if we actually retained the information we were given. Therefore, we have to learn how to focus and master the ability to concentration.”
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When a goal is a ways off it is so easy to lose focus. There are so many distractions especially if you have goals that are unrelated.
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Great Tips! The first thing I do when working on a goal is put my phone as far away from me as possible!
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I definitely needed this reminder! And you hit it on the nail about not being taught to focus. It’s definitely a skill many of us lack! I remember my brother being diagnosed with ADHD and being put on medicine because he didn’t focus. But my mom made the decision to take him off the meds and really seek help in getting him to focus. One of his math teachers began to tutor him and taught him various skills that helped tremendously! He is a college graduate working on his master’s now! Focus is everything!
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These are all good points and reminders for me. My phone and social media are my biggest distractors. I have got to do better with disconnecting for a little bit while getting things done. I recently downloaded Google Keep to my phone and laptop where I keep lists of things I need to get done and I have no more than 3 things a day that I absolutely must get done. That helps me not get overwhelmed and shut down.
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This post is speaking to me. This week after taking on two new clients that require a lot of time I have had to manage my time as wisely as possible, which has mostly been me working until 2-3 in the morning because everything an email goes off it flashes on my phone screen and then I get sidetracked with that. I know I need to cut it off and next week I’m just going to do it! No more being distracted my texts, alerts, and phone calls.
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Keeping your vision/goals in mind requires tunnel vision. Avoiding chaos is veey important sometimes when looking to achieve your goals you have to ler people go. I love reading your blog.
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I really love your list! I totally agree eliminating these things will
Help a person accomplish more! Being a social media blogger and building a brand online can be hard because you have to know when to turn it off. I’m thankful when projects come that require me to the things listed here.
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Electronics are a HUGE source of distraction from me. It doesn’t help that a lot of my work is on social media, which gives me an “excuse” to check my instagram and twitter constantly… even though it’s just a distraction! Powering off is a good idea.
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You’re are 100% right sometimes we have to power off and focus on a specific task or goal. I’ve notice this is when I am most productive and creative. Thanks for reading and sharing!
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These are great tips. I often struggle with staying focused. It is something that I am working on daily. Thanks for sharing.
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I have been working hard on reducing my stress. These are so great ways that could help me with that as well!
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