Some days are overwhelming.
Some days come at us with a vengeance.
Too many tasks, too many emergencies.
How do you cut through the chaos to get to what is important?
Some days it seems that you need a laser to blast through all your tasks.
It’s All About Focus
Lasers are powerful because they focus an extreme amount of energy down to a small focal point.
This is good analogy for our productivity.
“To maximize your effectiveness, you must bring your productivity into focus on what is most important.”
If you bring your efforts to bear on the things that matter most, you will quickly find yourself cutting thought the chaff and getting things done.
Laser-Guide Your Work
If you don’t focus your productivity, you will not accomplish much. You’ll end up with 57 things started, and nothing done.
Instead, direct your efforts on to what’s most important.
Here’s “How to Blast Through Your Day Like a Laser:”
- Find Your Focus – Just like a laser needs to focus its energy, you must do the same with your efforts. Focusing on the smallest number of tasks will often product the greatest results.
- Blast Through Obstacles – Don’t let obstacles shut down your productivity. Most productivity-stoppers can be overcome with a little extra effort or strategy. Don’t let the walls keep you from your goals.
- Cut Though the Clutter – Some people may need a laser to clean up their desk. Take the extra time to clean up your work area. A clean workspace is key to getting important tasks done and letting you see your work.
- Destroy Fire Drills and Other Urgencies – Don’t let fire drills take you off task unless absolutely necessary. Sometimes a few minutes of laser attention can extinguish what appears to be an urgency, and you can return to the task at hand.
- Melt Through Resistance – People are attracted to those that are getting things done. Instead of creating friction with co-workers, melt through their resistance by getting things done. Soon you will see others wanting to participate in your accomplishments.
- Shine a Laser On What’s Important – A recent Harvard Business article suggested that using todo lists was a bad idea. I disagree. If you don’t know what you are supposed to be doing you, how are you going to do it? Inevitably, you will forget things. It is also difficult to prioritize when you cannot see all your tasks.
- Heat up Your Productivity – Action leads to more action. Heat up your productivity by building momentum. Completing a small, but important, task early can lead to increased success throughout your day.
- Laser-Guide Your Efforts – Don’t just flit from task-to-task or place-to place. Otherwise, you will suddenly find that the workday is over and you haven’t even gotten to what you intended to do that day. Go to your calendar and schedule time with your most important work.
Focus Your Productivity
Don’t let your productivity spread itself out to any and all tasks.
Instead, focus your productivity like a laser.
Concentrate on the few important tasks.
Stay on target.
Cut through the chaos.
And soon you’ll be blasting through those tasks.
Question: What do you need to focus your productivity on today?
Photo credit Guitarfool5931.
Another great post, Craig! The main thing that gets in my way is lack of focus. There is so much going on at one time – both online and offline – that it seems I am drowning in information overload. When I write, I now turn off the Internet (at the cable modem box) and write whatever comes to mind. This can be my new book on SEO, a topic for one of my four blogs or even just free writing.
There’s just too much going on online. It’s time to de-clutter the noise.
@Shannon Steffen Wow… I have this imagery of you sternly ripping, I mean… unplugging, the cable modem from the wall….
Great post. I’ve begun scheduling appointments with my big tasks/projects in my calendar, treating them as clients and giving those tasks/projects my complete attention during those assigned time slots. As usual, I have to exert some real discipline to not allow phone calls and emails to pull me away. Putting myself in the mindset of being in an appointment with a client definitely helps me do that.
@devongilchrist Thx, Devon! That is one of my favorite strategies… scheduling time with tough tasks.
And yes, those pesky phones “begging” to be answered! 😉
I’ve found that the ability to focus comes after a lot of self-inspection. We have to take a good, hard look at ourselves to figure out where we waste time. We need to pay attention to the situations that help us focus the most. Then we can use this knowledge and refine this knowledge over time to lead us into a focused state.
@Loren Pinilis Great tip, Loren!
Hi Craig,
Before I can get any real work done I have to make sure that my workspace is clean and clutter free. I have seen some desks of people where I can’t even see the top of the desk. I can’t imagine getting anything done this way.
@Justin Mazza Justin, right on! A clean desk definitely helps get work done and more importantly lets you “see” your work. 🙂
I have seen some doozies, as well. An executive I recently encountered had papers stacked at least a foot high on her desk. Wow!
@TMNinja That would make my mind crazy to have that kind of mess on my desk. 🙂
I am just starting to get into the Pomodoro technique and the main benefit so far seems to be that it gives me a clear sharp goal to reach within 25 minutes – in other words it puts on the pressure and makes me focus with one and a half eyes on the task and half an eye on the clock. Do others find this a useful way (along with generally trying to limit distractions) as a good way to cut through tasks?
@ergoorgo I like this technique… setting time goals. And buckling down for short bursts of productivity.
Here is a guest post on the subject by chrisbrogan
http://timemanagementninja.com/2010/06/guest-post-my-secret-love-of-egg-timers/
Craig,
When “why” is missing, then I have hard time focusing on my work.
If I don’t know why I’m doing my task, then I’m making things too hard on myself.
Cheers,
Timo