There are two types of people I know – incredible leaders who are able to increase focus as their day progresses and people who would love to be like them but lose their spark even before lunch. So what is it that makes the former group check off item after item on their seemingly endless checklist? I believe they go back to the basics. Back to before we were bombarded with too much information and our bodies tried to keep up with a pace of life that was simply unfair to it.
By slowing down your life you’ll be able to increase your focus at work and home. [Tweet This] Here are 5 habits of these super successful people who have focus like superman has strength. Follow them and you’ll be ploughing through your day as well.
1. Cut the Caffeine and Drink More Water
One of the most successful entrepreneurs I know has actually cut all forms of caffeine out of his diet and only drinks plain warm water when he feels the need for tea. That’s WAY too extreme for me, I need my morning cup of coffee or tea, but he’s onto something.
We all know the crash after a good cup of coffee and that’s what kills your first burst of focus in the morning. To get that back, many people feel they need some form of distraction, be it food, sugar, a smoke – whatever. But the idea is to eliminate the crash completely and keep your focus going all day.
2. Put Your Phone Away
How many times a day are you interrupted by your phone when you’re doing something really important? If you don’t think this is an issue, I dare you to actually count all the interruptions one day. You’re guaranteed to be in for a surprise.
Remember the days when no one had cell phones? If it was really important, an emergency, there was always a way to be contacted. So why do we feel the need to be attached to our palm sized devices every moment of 24 hours? Get to work and put it away. You’ll make time to see all those missed calls, messages, social media updates when you have the time.
3. Make Time for Yourself
…and do what, watch TV? No! I can’t stress the importance of making time for yourself to take care of yourself. This could mean different things for different people. Maybe you need to get more sleep, exercise, meditate or even take this time out for organizing healthy meals/snacks for the day.
Every person is different – we’re all at different points on the path to self-improvement. This means there is no one-size-fits-all strategy for anyone. So you need to find what’s lacking in your “self-care regiment” and use this time for that.
4. Stop Multitasking
I remember the whole craze of multitasking and the hot debate of how women were more successful than men. A negative side effect this had on many people was that the desire to prove that they were excellent multitaskers became a hindrance in the end because they stopped focusing on things they were doing.
When you think about it, it’s really incredible what short spans of attention we’ve developed. I’ve learned that blocking of hours for certain tasks is the best way to “multitask” rather than doing them all together. I no longer have multiple tabs and windows open when I work. I set an hour (or few depending on the task) and only expose myself to information relevant to it.
5. Empower Your Attitude
I know so many people who complain that they just don’t have enough time. What they forget is that Einstein, Malcom X and Obama all had/have the same 24 hours in a day as we do. So if you’re not getting everything done it’s your fault for not managing your own time appropriately.
You know what complaining does? It wastes time. Yours and the poor person who has to listen to you. Having the right attitude, for anything, makes all the difference in the world. Believing that you’ll get everything done will make it happen. There’s nothing wrong with a good venting every now and then, we’re all human after all. But you must empower your own attitude to succeed at anything.
Focus. Such a simple yet powerful word. Just looking at it can hone your brain in the right direction. In fact there’s another tip for you:
Write the word “FOCUS” somewhere near your screen so that it triggers you into action.
Are you one of those wondrous people that keeps people in awe about how you continue to achieve things? Share your secrets on how to increase focus in the comments below. We’d love to learn from you. And do subscribe to receive more personal improvement tips straight to your inbox.
Coffee et al is very much an individual thing. While lack of water will absolutely ‘dry up your mind’ (literally impede the flow of nutrient replenishment to your brain), coffee isn’t likely to be the culprit of lack of focus. a lot of people actually focus way better the second half of their day, after having had 3 or 4 cups of coffee. Anyways, I’d be 10x more fucused on adequate sleep than coffee intake.
put your phone away. Absolutely. Unless that’s your job of course. But in general, put non-work-related information flows out of hand’s reach. Time for yourself sure, but is that really the issue for most lack of focus people? I do know your point though. flitting around from onething to the other without reflection is a sure path to lack of accomplishment. Multitasking? meh, cliche’. better advice would be “get organized”. Multitasking is cover for lack of a plan. Empower your attitude. Well yeah, that’s everything right? Believing that you’ll get everything done will make it happen? VERY cliche’. It’s not about believing it into existence. It’s about deciding that win or fail, this is the best course of action and you’re going to follow through wherever that leads. And accept that you fail some, you win some, but you always fail if you stop moving in the right direction. Heh, I’d obviously fail as a motivational speaker 🙂