invisible blog

OK fellas, let’s get your week started off right. Pick one task you want to get done this week and dedicate yourself to completing that task by the end of the week, no matter what. We will call this your point of emphasis for the week. In a world of cell phones, the blackberry, the Internet and T.V., it is easy to be distracted by outside influences. You may think multi-tasking is the way to go. But, the reality is you can only do one thing well at a time. We are not talking about chewing gum and walking at the same time. You should be able to do that. We are talking about critical projects and tasks that require a requisite amount of brain power.

Once you accept this reality, you have to ask yourself, what is the one thing I can dedicate myself to this week. This task generally falls into two categories. There are things that you want to get done, and then there are those things you might not want to do but you are worrying about constantly. We suggest you tackle that item that you are worrying about first. Why? Once you get that task done, you can then allow yourself to spend your time on that task that you want to do. You will also feel better that you are actually doing something about your problem instead of just worrying about it. Once you have established your point of emphasis for the week, use these two suggestions to make the power of focus work for you.

1. Block out an hour of distraction-free time to work on your point of emphasis as early as possible in the day. This means not answering the phone or email. For some of you this may mean working from home for an hour or somehow getting away from a place where people can find you.
2. Write your point of emphasis on a sticky note and leave it around your work area. When you are distracted by another project, call or email, the note will remind you to re-focus on your point of emphasis. After an interruption, if you find yourself asking “what should I do next,” hopefully the sticky note will answer that question.

Do you have other suggestions or tips for focusing on a particular task? We want to hear about them. Leave us a comment! - IM