How to Focus on Goals and Get Rid of Distractions

Have you ever had 1 of those days wherever you’re sitting astatine a surface trying to conscionable tick thing disconnected your to do database and uncovering yourself wholly incapable to conscionable attraction connected nan task astatine hand? Maybe you’re connected Facebook aliases falling down nan rabbit spread of news, societal media, and nan countless different distractions nan Internet presents alternatively of trying to attraction connected goals for nan day.

You’re not alone. More than 84% of america are plagued by procrastination astatine slightest sometimes. For me, procrastination is nan starring logic I utilized to truthful often get to nan extremity of nan week without having achieved what I wanted to. That yet meant putting successful much hours connected nan weekends and evenings erstwhile I’d alternatively beryllium spending clip pinch my family aliases moving retired and investing successful my beingness and intelligence health.

That was nan halfway motivator for maine investing 2 years successful experimenting pinch different devices and strategies to amended my attraction (check retired our guideline present connected how to achive my goal).

Today, I person 3 young sons, and I don’t miss a bedtime aliases a play time trip. I’m moving less hours and getting much done, and present are immoderate of nan techniques I’ve applied to execute it.

1. Use nan Pomodoro Technique connected More Laborious Tasks

The Pomodoro Technique is simply a method for improving productivity. It was devised by Francesco Cirillo and is named aft nan Pomodoro shaped timer that he used.

It’s a elemental premise. You move disconnected each distractions and activity non-stop pinch complete attraction for 25 minutes. Then, you return a 5 infinitesimal break. You repetition this process for 115 minutes, aft which which you will person worked for 100 minutes and had 15 minutes of breaks.

You tin set nan timings aliases nan number of repetitions you do arsenic you go much acquainted pinch really you activity best.

There are immoderate important things to carnivore successful mind if you effort this to attraction connected goals:

1. During nan 25 minutes, you request to be free of all distractions. Shut your societal media down, hide your telephone successful a drawer, and make judge cipher hassles you. Focus is key.
2. It doesn’t activity for each task. This is not a method for collaborative tasks. I thin to usage it astir efficaciously for study writing, copywriting, and table investigation led tasks.
3. Don’t expect to spot results immediately. I recovered it took maine a fewer days earlier I noticed immoderate important changes to my velocity of work, but wrong 2 weeks I was completing reports successful astir half nan clip I would usually expect it to take.

2. Write Your Goals Down

Writing things down is thing of a superpower we each have. It comes down to psychology. In his book, Influence, Robert Cialdini notes nan findings of a study that recovered a aesculapian halfway was capable to trim missed appointments by 18% simply by getting patients to constitute their ain assignment clip down.

Writing things down appears to make us, arsenic humans, much committed to them.

I commencement each time now by penning down a database of things I request to complete that day. It’s a mini change, takes nary much than a minute, and really helps to support maine focused.

There are fewer things arsenic satisfying arsenic marking thing disconnected pinch a immense tick! Clicking a fastener doesn’t person nan aforesaid effect.

It’s an easy extremity to effort and takes very small clip retired of your day, truthful 1 good worthy trying for yourself.

3. Work During Your Most Productive Hours

The 2 strategies supra are things you could effort retired coming and activity retired quickly if they thief you attraction connected goals. What I’m astir to propose is simply a luxury I cognize a batch of group do not have.

However, if you’re 1 of nan fortunate ones who can, past effort to build your time astir your astir productive hours.

A quality being is thought to beryllium productive for little than 3 hours each day. Yet, we traditionally build our moving time to past from 9 to 5 pinch small clip distant from our screens.

Therefore, it stands to logic that if you activity those hours, you’ll find yourself emotion for illustration astatine slightest half your time is wasted.

I spent a period aliases truthful measuring really productive I was astatine different times of nan day. Over that month, connected immoderate days I worked mornings, immoderate days afternoons, and immoderate days evenings. On different days, I worked nan full day, though (freelance life!). I measured my output and noted really I was feeling. This is what I found.

When I was penning transcript (where I’d already carried retired nan research), my astir productive hours successful position of connection count were these:

I assessed nan aforesaid point pinch study writing:

What became clear to maine is that I activity very good early successful nan greeting and reasonably good successful nan evening. And I am, frankly, beautiful useless successful nan mediate of nan afternoon.

So why was I trying to make myself do these tasks that request attraction astatine a clip erstwhile I’m intelligibly not people very focused?

This was thing of a revelation to maine regarding really to attraction connected goals. I began adapting my moving time wherever possible. I started moving earlier successful nan greeting and again successful nan evening if request be. I building my time truthful that, if possible, I tin get retired for a locomotion aliases do thing progressive successful nan afternoon. And if that isn’t possible, I return calls and person meetings.

Wherever possible, I don’t nutrient archiving successful nan afternoon.

This made important improvements to my productivity and enabled maine to consistently person completed my to-do database for nan week by nan weekend, making it imaginable for maine to walk much clip pinch my family.

Two things enabled maine to do this:

1. I americium self-employed and tin activity elastic hours
2. My hubby besides useful successful nan business, truthful we tin disagreement nan childcare successful specified a measurement that enables maine to build my moving time for illustration this

If you’re employed, alternatively than self-employed, it mightiness beryllium worthy a speech pinch your management. Putting a business lawsuit guardant astir really they tin get nan champion retired of your paid clip could beryllium capable to promote them to springiness you elasticity successful really you build your day.

If you’re not capable to build your time for illustration that, past moreover changing which activities and tasks you transportation retired astatine definite times (documentation astatine your astir productive hours, conversations astatine your least) could thief to support you focused.

4. Use Browser Extensions to Keep you Focused

If you’re 1 of those group who finds themselves distracted by societal media aliases nan news, past location are devices to thief you.

• Stayfocusd: A Chrome hold that lets you artifact definite websites altogether
• Deprocrastination: A Chrome hold that enables you to way erstwhile you’re astir productive, way what websites bargain your time, and artifact accordingly.

If you’re looking for much devices to thief you enactment productive, here’re immoderate bully options: 15 Productivity Chrome Extensions To Boost Productivity successful 2020

Work Smarter

Investing successful experimenting pinch techniques to make maine much productive is enabling maine to walk much clip doing nan things I emotion without compromising my activity aliases expertise to amended income.

Small changes made nan biggest quality for me, and I dream they’ll make a large quality for you arsenic you attraction connected goals and get things done.

More connected How to Focus and Achieve Your Goals

• 9 Ways To Focus and Be Super Productive At Work
• How to Plan Your Life Goals and Actually Achieve Them
• How Does Setting Goals Lead to Success?

Featured photograph credit: Tamarcus Brown via unsplash.com