Transcripts
1. Introduction: Hi, I'm Zach. This course we will learn
the power of focus. How to improve your
concentration, double your productivity, and become a beast at
whatever you do. Why is focused important that
you pick up this course? My guess is that
you're struggling with one or both
of these problems. One concentrating on tasks
is difficult for you. You don't feel as
though there is enough time in the day
to get everything done. Three, you have problems
with productivity. If any or all of these things are the case, you're not alone. Millions of people
struggled daily to maintain focus and as a result,
productivity is lost. What if I told you
that there are proven methods to not
only maintain focus, but also to improve
your ability to concentrate and
complete more tasks. What if you were the person
who usually got around to doing what you wanted
to most of the time, it is 1000% possible for
you to be that person. And at the end of this course, you'll be well on your
way to becoming emperor. But before I get
ahead of myself, let's examine what the
definition of focus is so that I can be sure that
we're on the same page. According to Merriam
Webster Dictionary. Focus is a verb
meaning to direct your attention or effort
at something specific. Notice one thing, you'll need focus in all
areas of your life. There may be any number of
reasons that you lack focus, including a poor appetite, improper planning skills,
irregular sleep habits, the wrong mindset, etc. We'll cover all of
those obstacles and how to overcome
them at home, in the workplace and
in your social life. But first, take a look
at the checklist below. If you suffer from
any one of these, you would likely benefit
from learning to be more focused in
your daily life. Telltale signs that you
may be lacking focus. You feel as though there aren't
enough hours in the day. You forget to do simple
tasks throughout the day. You often leave
tasks unfinished, letting them interfere with your schedule for the next day. You often feel fatigued from trying to think about
or do too much. You want to see your talk
to your friends more, but you just don't
have the time. You believe that there
are too many stressors in your life to concentrate
on any one task. Does any of this sound familiar? If so, I've got good
news and bad news. The bad news. You suffer
from lack of focus. The good news, so does
most of the world. The only difference
is now you'll learn valuable tricks
of the trade to help you focus and become the most efficient
person that you can be.
2. Creating environment for Focus mindset: In this section, you'll
learn how to turn your home into a productive place
where things can get done. What comes to mind when
you hear the word home? Just thinking about home, it causes some form of stress. You're in need of a major
focus. Home is your hub. It's the one space
where you have the opportunity to
prepare yourself before venturing out into this crazy place that we'd
like to call the world. But if you're not viewing your
home in a positive light, I can almost guarantee that it won't be a pleasant
place for you to be. Before you change any type of routine or habit in your home, you must first
change your mindset. Try this exercise. Make a list of all the things at home that you have
to be grateful for. Once you've made your list, go back over what you've
written and think about why you're grateful
for those things. The end results should be a renewed appreciation
for your humble a vote. The importance of sleep. Did you know that a
lack of sleep could kill you before
having a lack of food could you can survive approximately
14 days without food, but ten days without
sleep will kill you. Just check out a few of
these interesting facts from Time Magazine on sleep and the effects that it
can have on the body. A simple six-minute nap
can improve your memory. 15-minute power naps can be useful a recharging
from a midday crash. It said that even
Leonardo da Vinci took 15 minute power naps every
four hours to recharge. If you're not getting
enough sleep, don't expect to be focused,
productive, and efficient. How many hours of sleep are
you clocking in per night? The average adult needs anywhere from seven
to eight hours. Here are some tips
that may help you affected who effectively
toned down each night. Avoid using electronic
shortly before going to bed? Yep. That means stay away
from your phone, tablet, computer, and eReader at least
an hour before bed. The glare from them
simulates daylight. They trick your body
into staying awake, stick to a set schedule. Your body may be confused about when it's
time to go to bed. There are certain things
in your room or sleeping space that are keeping you up without you even realizing it. While you should probably
become a morning person. Here are a few tips to get
you started on your journey. If you normally wake
up at eight AM, don't expect to feel your best. If you're switching your
wake-up time to 430 AM. Take baby steps and
start off by getting off just an hour earlier
than you normally would. As you get used to this, you can start to wake
up earlier and earlier. Do light exercise
in the morning. Try replacing your
morning dose of caffeine with a
light walk or jog, get to the office an hour or two before everyone
else gets there. You might find that the
piece in solitude as well worth the effort of
being an early riser. Don't eat the cupcake. You've made the changes
that we've talked about. But you're still lethargic, still void of energy, and unable to put your
focus much of anywhere. Something just feels off your
diet could be the culprit. What types of foods are you
eating throughout the day? Many professionals describe
a schedule that so intense that they often don't even eat breakfast or lunch. Imagine what horrible things
your brain must be saying to you when it wakes your body up and it doesn't get the
fuel that it needs. There are two key reasons why it's important to eat breakfast. And as newer studies show that skipping breakfast leads to concentration and memory
issues throughout the day. How can you give
optimal focus to a task when your body
doesn't have what it needs, the mealtimes for, breakfast, lunch, and dinner
are all deliberate. Your body needs fuel if those peak times, times to perform. Foods and snacks to optimize focus and help you
get through your day. Almonds. Avoid juices in sodas. Eggs. These low on calories and protein will help
your hunger go away. Peanut butter is a
filling protein source. Lean meats, chicken
breast. Lean ground. Beef. Turkey. Do exercise. Just 30 to 60 minutes
of exercise from three to five times a
week improves your mood. The most important words
you will ever say, your words have a tremendous
effect on your mood, which is why it's crucial that positive affirmations become
a daily regime for you. Positive affirmations
are sayings or phrases that you repeat
to yourself daily. They're thought to have an encouraging
effect on your mood, emotions, and overall
quality of life. Your words have power. If you say those words enough, you'll start to believe them. Here are some examples of
positive affirmations to get you started on
the right track. I can get focused on tasks regardless of my
life circumstances. I am having a productive day. I will give all of my attention
to one task at a time. I complete projects easily, I have all that I need in
order to be productive. Try this, come up with
a few affirmations of your own things that
you wish were true. Repeat those affirmations
to yourself three times every single morning
for at least a month. You should start to see
a guaranteed change in your mindset and
ability to focus. Mindfulness is the study of being present or in the moment. It's a technique
that you'll need to implement daily if you are intent on improving
your focus on daily tasks. Here's an effective
one that I often use. One, close your eyes
named for things that you hear with your
eyes still closed, named three things
that you smell. Three, open your eyes, named two things that you see with your eyes still open name one
thing that you can feel. You should have noticed one
thing that you accomplish, accomplished during
this exercise. You probably managed to stop thinking about
your stressors. Instead, you were
living in the moment and honing in on
your five senses. The only way you'll
ever master the art of focusing on the present
is to live in it. You're planning day.
It goes without saying that weekdays can
get a little hectic. When things get hectic, It's easy for time and
focus to slip away from you to avoid this plan
out your week ahead of time. Designate a planning day during the weekend to prepare
for the week ahead. I like to use Sunday. It's close enough to
the upcoming weeks so that I'm in the mental space
to prepare for Monday, but it's far enough
from Friday so that I can still
enjoy my weekend. You'll find that the more
you plan ahead of time, the fewer surprises
you will have, the fewer surprises
you have more likely you are to focus on a
single task and do it well, if your home is too cluttered to permit that a cleaner space not only helps you feel better, but it also takes
the focus off of your environment and puts
it on the task that you're completing just in case you're in need of some
help in this area. Here are a few tips
to get you started in your journey to
one cluttering it, you can get a cleaning
service to come in every so often to
do a deep cleaning, use the extra time
you would've used for cleaning to dive deeper
into your pursuits. Try not to overwhelm yourself by doing
everything at once. Clear out one room for week. One of the most
useful things that you can do to improve
your focus at home is to make sure you're constantly re-evaluating
your routine. It said that the definition of insanity is doing the
same thing over and over. Summary. One that you make it a point to think
of home as a pleasant, relaxing place. To Dutch. You get at least seven to
eight hours of sleep at night. Three dots, you wake
up at least one hour earlier than
you did previously. For Dutch, you've changed your
diet so that you're not on a roller coaster of constant
sugar, highs and lows. Five-point, you do light exercise at least
three times a week. Six statue, you have two or
three positive affirmations that you make it a point
to repeat every morning. Seven dot you're
practicing mindfulness. You've set aside a day for
planning out your week. Nine dots. You have
an active plan for clearing the
clutter in your home. See you in the next class.
3. Work Environment: Now that you've got your
home life in order. This next section we'll
go into details about the area of life where some spend most of their time work. Beware of burning yourself
out in the workplace. It makes focus
nearly impossible. And if you're looking to
become a master of focus, that's one obstacle that you can do without the work mindset. The workplace can be
a tough environment, mainly because in many
situations you are not the one who controls
the environment. You can't necessarily change
your workplaces culture, but you can absolutely
changed the way that you react to it by
switching your perspective. Just as there is a home mindset, there is also a work mindset. There's a key difference
between these two mindsets. Build the home life
mindset is about grounding and
centering yourself so that you are in prime
condition to focus the work-life mindset is about maintaining the type of focus that you have at home. To maintain focus, you'll need to constantly practice
the technique of mindfulness. Think about how
much of what you're worried about is
attributed to something that may happen versus how much of it is about what's
actually happening. If you're worried and
anxious about something your body is in prime
condition to focus. The unfortunate piece of this is that when your body
is in the state, it starts to focus
on the wrong things. This is how some mistakenly
believe that they are focused intensely on a work task when they really are not. If you are stressed about
a task, you're completing, your concentrating
on both the tasks and your anxiety about the task. Try, try this. The next time you
are stressed out about a task that
you're working on. God's stop the task and
take a small break. Use your break to journal
about what it is. You're anxious about.
Writing things down helps you remember period. As children were encouraged
to write spelling words in homework assignments
over and over. As teens were asked to take
notes in the classroom. As young adults were encouraged to make
agendas for meetings. We even encouraged the elderly to write down daily reminders. If you're going to implement
this method, however, it might be useful to note
that writing down things on a glowing screen versus on a plain old piece of paper
makes all the difference. In a recent study, researchers from UCLA and Princeton
University tested a theory. They took two groups
of students and ask them to take notes
on a given subject. One group of students
took notes on a laptop and the other
on pen and paper. Story, those students
who wrote on a laptop got more done
and we're more efficient. The students who had written
their notes by hand. It's always great
to get a lot done, but never sacrifice
quality for quantity. That's what focus
truly is about. Write things down to
comprehend and remember them. Go caveman style
and use a pen and a paper instead of a laptop
for greater comprehension. Here are some things
that might be helpful to write down
in the workplace. Meeting notes, agendas in a verbal instructions given
to you by a supervisor. Takeaways from e-mails, conversations that you may
need to remember later. Try this pinpoint. The parts of your day
where your memory and our concentration may
get a little shaky. Is it after a long meeting, after one-on-one with
your supervisor? Use this information to come up with a plan for writing down information that may help jog your memory, cutting
the distractions. Many employers have designed the workplace as a sort
of multitasking haven, where employees are expected to do 5 million things at once. You're working on a
computer with internet, Lord knows this is a
distraction within itself. Remember, you may not have
control over your environment, but you do have
control over yourself. When you're working on a
project or an assignment. Choose designated breaks to do other things like
answer your emails. An example of this
would be taking a 15-minute break
from a large project. This way you're not just
dropping everything every time you receive
a notification. When you are not aware or
privy to your next steps, if you are unprepared and as a result, unfocused
and unproductive. This rule is especially important
in the workplace as you don't want to spend
time thinking about what your next
steps should be. You want to spend the
time actually doing those next steps and
being productive. When you're in the workplace, always know what you're
going to do next. And if you don't know
what you're going to do, have a plan for finding out. Here are a few workplace tips on how to be proactive
and planning. Your next steps
always determined the takeaways for any meetings that you're required to attend. Break your work
assignments up into smaller chunks so that you have a plan on what to do once you
complete a certain section. Staying one step ahead of the game not only keeps
you on your toes, but it also maximizes
your focus, the power of setting
time intervals. Setting time intervals is a powerful technique
for those who have consistent problems
with focusing and we're staying productive. This is the way it works. One, set a small
goal for what you want to accomplish in
a short time interval. To start off by setting
the timer for 15 minutes. Three, do all of the work that you can in
those 15 minutes. If you start to get
distracted or discouraged, tell yourself that you only
have a few minutes to go up. Most of the time. When that timer goes off, you'll want to keep working. Set the timer for
another 15 minute interval, and keep working. Repeat as many times as needed. The idea here is to trick
the mind into focusing for a long time by making
it think that it's focusing for a short
amount of time. Tip 15 minute intervals are not necessary for this
technique to work. Use whatever time works for you. The shorter your attention span, the shorter your time should be. Us 15 minutes. If you are easily distracted.
4. How to set immediate end goal: In this section, we will
learn how to set in goals. If you feel your distraction
problems are minimal. Feel free to use anywhere
from 25 to 60 minutes, setting immediate and goals. While it's great to always
know your next steps and have a method for being
productive and getting there. That knowledge your
technique means nothing. If you have no immediate
end goal in mind. If you haven't
found out already. You'll see that it's really
difficult to work diligently on a task when you're unsure
of that tasks and goals. A lot of people confuse setting immediate and goals with setting goals for above and beyond initiatives that they
want to accomplish. Here's what I mean,
immediate end goal. By the end of this week, I will complete my project plan by the end of the day and
email it to my supervisor. Not an immediate and gold. I will complete my
project plan by the end of the day and then
email my supervisor with some effective methods for
doing plants like these in the and do you see the
difference between the two? The immediate end
goal allows you to focus on the task at hand. The second goal listed in this example takes the
focus off of what you're working on in the
moment and puts it on a future project
that doesn't exist. Don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating being a slacker as I'm an
overachiever myself. You should strive to do all that you can in your
work assignments. It's completely okay to go above and beyond if that's you, just be sure that when you do you're not cheating yourself or your employer by putting your focus on the wrong things. Setting immediate goals isn't an overly difficult process. Process. The next time it's time to write down
or set those goals. Consider planning using
the following steps. One, come up with a vision. Don't overthink this step. Your vision doesn't have to
be terribly complicated. Once you achieve your goal. Reward yourself, depending
on the size of the goal. Your reward can be big or small. Many people know exactly what to do when it comes
to the big goals, but they are stuck on how exactly to celebrate
the small stuff. Here are some suggestions for celebrating small victories. Go for ice cream. Watch a movie that you've
been wanting to see. Get a manicure pedicure,
facial or massage. Buy yourself a new small gadget. Make a bubble bath, end. Listen to relaxing
music. Get a dump book. Dump book is a great idea
for creatives with a lot of random ideas and too little
time to flush them out. Got a great idea on how to
streamline a work process. But you're in the
middle of working on an intense project. Don't stop your project
to flush the idea out. This will only take away from your concentration and
overall productivity. Put the idea in your dump book
and come back to it later.
5. How to create Time for Fun: This section will help
you how to create time for fun. Tip. Use your weekend. Planning day to put aside
some dump book time. Your dump book time
is for reviewing and maybe even implementing
the awesome ideas that you had during
the week outsource. There is no one in this world
who was good at everything, but there are people
in this world who are good at something. Why not work together to
utilize each other's skillsets? Outsourcing is a mutually
beneficial relationship. The person hiring
the outsourcer, it gets a service performed, and the person being
outsourced gets money for using their
natural skill sets. It's a wind slash wind. The quickest way to burn out in the workplace is trying to
do everything yourself. Here are some valuable ways that outsourcing can be used
in a place of employment. Need a way to promote
a business or a specific aspect
of your business. Outsource someone to write an e-book for
marketing purposes, need a logo design or a
graphic for a business card. Outsource of freelance
graphic artists to help out, got some menial and
tedious but important work that needs to be accomplished. Outsource someone
who has the time to complete these tasks for you. Focus on what talents you have, instead of focusing on acquiring the ones needed to
complete your tasks. The benefits are endless. Many of us have a
routine to ground us before we even get into work. Time is a fatal mistake
and will cost you some serious productivity
during the day. Not to mention more than a
little bit of your sanity. The benefits to one interrupted
solitude are endless. Check-out. Some of the benefits
that taking time for yourself before a daunting
task and accomplish, your brain will get a
chance to recharge. If your task requires a significant or even
a little brainpower. You'll need every ounce to maximize your focus
and creativity. You'll get a chance to listen to your own thoughts instead
of other people's. When you haven't taken the time to consider what you think it's easy to get caught in the trap of going with what others think. Taking time for
yourself gives you time to regroup your
thoughts so that you can offer more
valuable insight and be more productive
throughout the day. You'll be able to
do a better job of working through problems. It's sometimes difficult
to solve a problem when 5 million things are
coming at you at once. If you take the time
alone to cut out these distractions and
think without them, you greatly increase your
problem-solving abilities. Avoid dialing into meetings held at the beginning
of the workday. You don't want to start
your day off in haste, if at all possible, get to work a few minutes early to be
present for the meeting. If you find that you're
running late quite a bit, set your alarm clock
to get up even earlier when you're
running late. You're focused on running
late, nothing else. If getting your
children ready for school in the morning
time is too stressful, try meal prepping and picking out clothes the night before. Do whatever it takes to
preserve your sanity. Getting busy during your
commute productivity is about making the most of
every single free moment, even your daily work commute. If you drive to work. The time to kick back and enjoy your favorite song
or radio show. You'll need time to
decompress before jumping right into
your work assignments. But if you don't
drive to work and can focus all of your
attention elsewhere, you're in a really good
position to get a lot done. The average commute
is about 40 minutes. Both ways would you
choose to do with that time is dependent
upon your goals. If your goals are to relax
and unwind before work. You might want to consider doing the following during
your commute. Sudoku or crossword puzzle. Reading a fiction book, writing a new creative piece. Getting on social media, listening to a
motivational speech. There's nothing wrong with
any of those activities. Are wanting to do
those on your commute. Maybe you know that you
have a stressful day ahead. And the only way you
know you'll relax is if you use your
commute time to unwind. But if your goal for the
day is to be productive, your commute might look
a little different. You may plan out your immediate
and goals for the day. Start working on next
week's schedule. Read a non-fiction book
related to your profession, listened to and take
notes on a meeting that you recorded
earlier in the week. How much or how little you get done on your commute
really is up to you determine what
your goals are for that day and use your
commute time accordingly. Here are a couple of
pointers on getting things done during
your morning commute. Use your commute time
to focus on relaxation. Read a book and get in for all. Write in your journal
focusing on your reflections. Makes sure that you
are not starting any type of work
before your time. You'll hear or see me
say it over and over. Take your time by any means necessary every focused
person needs it. Keeps smiling. See you in the next class.
6. ways to organize social Life: The battle between partying and productivity to work or to
party that is the question. It may surprise you to
know that maintaining an active social life is a major part of remaining
focused and productive. Ever wonder how
celebrities party so hard and are still able
to get so much done. The answer they're
getting so much done that they're
able to party hard. Comedian Steve Harvey has
four jobs in seven kids, yet he and his wife still
vacation regularly. How he makes the time. He recognizes that with
seven kids and for jobs, he could be one phone call
away from burning out. If he doesn't take
care of himself. If you want to
improve your focus on intense or tedious tasks, you will need to take breaks
from them quite frequently. You have one golden rule to
abide by during your breaks. Have fun the social mindset. So you've centered
yourself using the techniques in the
home mindset section. And you've learned to maintain that stability by using some of the methods in the
work mindset section. Now it's time to make
sure that you're balanced in how you
view your social life. You shouldn't
necessarily be at any of these two extremes,
but many are. Your social life is not an
extra part of your life. It is a necessary
part of your life. It's something that you'll
need to maintain balance. Without that balance,
it'll be near impossible for you
to maintain focus. When you're
overworked, you're not focused on any one task. You are focused on
being overworked. Your brain works
overtime to try to compensate for your
bodies fatigue. The result, result is
a tired mind and body. You want to complete tasks in a way that shows your potential. You want to be focused and attentive and
everything that you do scheduling regular social
time helps with this. Next time you are thinking
of getting together with your friends in the midst of
a load of work assignments. Don't feel guilty. You are investing in
yourself in the long run. Happy you makes a happy home, which makes a happy workplace. Happy workplace where you means a happy and efficient worker. Take the time to invest in yourself to generate happiness. Try this while you're
planning your work. Schedule for the week. Schedule, some time in-between work to hang out with friends. Your body will thank you for the brain break. Just Say No. One golden rule of being
a beast at remaining focused and productive is
to avoid time vampires. Time vampires are exactly
what they sound like. These people are
things that suck time out of you like a vampire
would suck blood. It should be easy to ward off these time vampires
if you know they exist. Right after all, if
you're in the street and see an 18 wheeler
coming your way, you know that you
should probably move out of the way in order to avoid getting hit The
problem with time vampires. You have this guide to help you. Here are a couple of
common time vampires and ways to avoid them. One, social media, yes, I know it's super important
that you see who's married to whom this week, who broke up with whom last week and what your
best friend had for lunch. However, if used
incorrectly, social media, it can be a major
time vampire with the different social
media platforms and all the information available
on these platforms. It's easy to literally, literally spend hours
perusing these sites. The biggest way to
combat social media is to see your
friends face-to-face. I know this might be a
foreign concept these days, but it's an effective one. Be sure to schedule
your time so that social media and of course
actually seen friends has a designated place in your weekly plan to
Mr. RMS dramatic. Just about everyone
knows this person. They are the ones
who always have some type of drama going
on in their lives. Making it near
impossible for them to have what many would
consider a normal day. This person isn't your friend. Avoid spending a significant
amount of time around them. Before you know it, you'll be
sucked into the drama tube. And instead of sticking to
your productivity schedule, you'll be solving his or her problems instead
of your own. If this person is your friend, limit your interactions to
lighthearted social ones. Try to pick activities where you're actually doing something. So that drama isn't the focus. Avoid the two or three
hour-long phone conversations and the random spying on my exhibitions that
lead to nowhere. Just say no to that friend
in gossip for hours on end. Just saying no to staying on social media for hours on end, you'll find that
you have more than enough time to get
everything done. Becoming a party planner, if you're going to really
tap into the power of focus, you absolutely need to
become a master of planning. There's a certain art to
planning your social activities so that you have an effective
work slash social balance. Below are some tips
for getting the most out of your social life in addition to scheduling something fun slash relaxing
on the weekends, schedule one fun activity
during the week. This gives you something to look forward to during the workweek. And once you've done the event, it gives you the push that you need to make it to the weekend. Put some time on your calendar for a reoccurring
event with friends, golf outings every month, one spot day a month, etc. Outsourcing any errands
that you may need to run. Spend the time relaxing with
friends and catching up, avoid social events that
are energies apertures. Are you a person who enjoys parties or are they
draining for you? Examine what social
events energize you and plan to have one of these
midweek and on the weekend. Remember, planning is key. It's perfectly fine and encouraged to have
fun and let loose. Just be sure. And we're planning
for that fund so that you can make the most
out of your schedule. Putting a cap on
your productivity, if you had just taken an
eight-hour kick boxing class, would you feel guilty
for taking arrest? What about if you just run
an eight hour marathon? Would you be justified in
taking a break than most people wouldn't have to
think twice about how to answer these questions. Yet when it comes to a
full eight-hour workday, many people are convinced
that they could be doing more physical fatigue is visible and therefore able to be
more easily understood. Mental fatigue is
a different story. It's tricky and can
creep up on you.
7. Balancing Health: It's important to be careful
about overworking yourself. Overworking leads to
sleep problems and lack of sleep leads to a
heaping pile of unproductive. In fact, according to
the New York Times, a recent Harvard study cited, sleep deprivation
is the cause for a near $64 billion loss in
productivity for companies. What a significant loss. In addition, mental
fatigue leads to brain fog and inability to
focus and think clearly, something you could clearly do without if you're looking
to stay on your a game, save yourself the hassle, and put a cap on the number
of hours that you're working. Be sure that you're working
no more than 40 hours a week without at least in
ten hours of social brakes. Social breaks while you're
working can either be a really good thing or
a really bad thing. Here's when they're not so
much of a good thing when coworkers come to your
desk to complain or event. There will never be
a shortage of things to complain about
wherever you go. Those coworkers can very
well unknowingly turned into time vampires hogging your time and energy until
you're too drained. Or time deprive to even think about focusing on a
task when they're taken to frequently without taking time intervals
into account. Timed intervals help add
to the work-life balance. Without them, you'd
be working for 510 minutes and
socializing for 30. And well, that doesn't leave very much time to
get things done. Here's when they're
a good thing, when you're feeling burned
out and you need time to re-energize when they're taken in moderation with regards
to timed intervals, when the people
that you're taking a break with actually
energize you if you feel refreshed instead of drained after speaking
with these people, you're on the right track. Social brakes are
an important thing to incorporate into
your schedule. In fact, they are just as important as your
time socializing key to sharpen emotionally
aware and best of all focused. Try this work once social
break into England or weekly. You'll find that the first from socializing coupled with
a break from working on your tasks actually
allows you to focus more intensely
giving yourself a day. By now. You should know the importance
of giving yourself time. But do you have a clear idea on how you'll spend this time? A lot of mothers think timings, quality time with children. Some teachers believe that it's an opportunity to
grade papers and t's. At the end of the day, others have absolutely no
clue on what it means. Time spent with yourself
and by yourself. It's when you do things for you with a definition in place. It should come as no
surprise that I'm recommending a day that
is an entire day that's devoted to you and
only you should schedule a day at
least once a week checkout some awesome ideas for how to spend the
day with yourself. Go see a movie that you've
always wanted to see. What that no one
would see with you. Go to a coffee house, sip a latte, and read a book, work on a fun or creative
project that you've always been wanting to get to go
to an art museum, go shopping or window
shopping, checkout, a local poetry reading, catch-up on your
favorite TV shows. Go to the spot. The possibilities for
the number of things that you can do are
endless as they should be. After all, you've got to live with you for the
rest of your life. You may as well enjoy
yourself, the crowd. You keep. Consider
this scenario. Jane wants to improve her productivity in
all areas of her life. She has to close friends Barbara and who
had the same bowl. Barbara's favorite pastime
is watching soap operas. She's hopelessly addicted to
the drama that the show's produced and likes to party
at least four times a week. She's very social with
a lot of influence. Consequently, she likes to use this influence to
network quite frequently, given the above scenario, how productive do you
think Jane will be if she spends a great deal of her
time with this group of women? Probably not the most
productive or focused. Have you ever heard the saying
that goes something like if you're the smartest person
in your circle of friends, get a new circle of friends. That mantras still
rings true even in the realm of focus
and productivity. If you're around a group
of people who aren't really productive than
their everyday lives. Chances are you're not going
to be either by all means. I'm not saying that you have
to get rid of your friends. Different groups
of acquaintances often serve different
purposes for people. However, if you
want to be a beast at productivity and focused, you have to hang around
other beasts more frequently lacking a
circle of friends, but you consider to be beasts
in the productivity space. Try any of the
following things to attract other focused,
productive friends. Attend local entrepreneurship
clubs or groups. The good thing of thing about these groups
is that, you know, they're all coming together with one common goal in mind to learn and grow
from each other. That's precisely the
influence you'll need in your journey to
improving your focus. Attend Toastmasters meetings. Public speaking is one of
the most common fears. Conquering your fears alongside others helps you to
grow closer to them. In addition, you'll learn a
valuable skills that aids and increased cognitive function
that is public speaking. It's a wind slash
hangout with coworkers. After work, in addition
to catching up with each other and
having some fun, you might also learn about some of the productivity tricks that your coworkers are using and how they
could benefit you. Create a new LinkedIn group for professionals in your area. Exchanging ideas online
is a great way to put a lot of information out there
in a short amount of time. If some of those professionals
are up for discussing some of those ideas in person over dinner or a happy hour. It's a bonus. Find a professional group associated with your profession. Project managers, writers,
journalists, hairstylists, and other professions all
have one inquire about others methods for building
productivity and focus. These industry
focused groups are great ways to network with
like-minded professionals. Strength in numbers, foster a friendly competition amongst your current friends
that centers around focus and productivity. One such example
of this is to have a competition for the
person who can read the most information based books in their niche and a
given amount of time meet to discuss the ideas and summaries outlined
in these books. You'll cover a lot
of information from helpful books in a
short amount of time, encourage your friends to
invite their other friends who may be interested in taking
any similar challenge. Hold each other
accountable by tracking each other's weekly
progress realized that the crowd that you
keep is what you'll draw. What type of things do
you want to let into your life and endless
soap opera addiction, constant partying only you can control the direction
of your focus. Make a decision about what
you're trying to attract and change the crowd that
you hang around accordingly.
8. Home & social Life management: Striking a balance. I can't emphasize how
important it is to a balance in your
homework and social life. If one of these areas is off, all of the rest will
be the person who was a rock star socializer
and does it constantly is likely not as productive at work or at home as they could be the workaholic who works in successively as probably falling short on maintaining balance at home and in their social life. You want to be a beast in all of these areas, you
won't be perfect. There are times when things
will get away from you. The kids, the test that you missed helping them
study for because you had to complete a report that absolutely had to
be in by midnight. Your son or daughter had
their first basketball game. You didn't get that last
little bit of work done so that you could
reach your immediate end goal for the day. You're tired and
just want a party all weekend instead
of sitting down to plan for the rigorous week
ahead. I get it. You're human. We all are striking a balance. Isn't a perfect,
uninterrupted art. It's something that we practice and that we work
it until we found some semblance of
satisfaction to recap in order to
strike a good balance. It's important to
pay close attention to all of these things. You have an active social life with time for
yourself than others. You have a work-life
balance that allows you to be productive and focused
in the workplace. You have a home environment
that's conducive to allowing you to become a beast in other areas of your life. Balance, focus and productivity are all essential
pieces of each other. Without one the rest all falter.
9. Summary: Conclusion, the true
power of focus. Focus doesn't just mean concentrating on
what you're doing. It's honing in anyone can
focus on a task without ever really devoting
a great deal of time and energy to it. I can watch my favorite
basketball player play in the Olympics
while I cook dinner, do laundry, and
whistle a show tune. But that doesn't necessarily
mean that I'll catch every highlight or
memorize every stat, or even truly enjoy the game. You want to be able
to enjoy the game. Yes, you want to be able to get quality work done in a
record amount of time. And yes, you want to utilize every iota of your time so that you're not having to steal from one area of your life
to give to the other. But realized the reason
that you've been put here. You are here to enjoy
your life every second of a dot actually
concentrating on tasks and being
productive makes you feel accomplished,
organized, and useful. True happiness is living efficiently in order to
truly enjoy your life. You need the tools to
concentrate on a given task. You need the work-life
balance to avoid burnout. You need focus.
Zaif Chaudhry
