How to set aside distractions, and stay focused for better productivity?
I often hear this question with my coaching clients.
Those are very busy with their corporate and personal life, and my clients are also multitasking solopreneurs running after time.
As I've been myself in those 2 cases (20+ years in corporate life juggling between my career and my responsibilities as a wife, a daughter, and a mom), and a nine-year full-time solopreneur with the pressure of making ends meet at the end of each month.
I've learned a lot about efficiency, productivity, energy, and time management to stay productive and focused.
I tried many things that didn't stick in the long run...and that's ok (meanwhile, I learned a lot about myself).
But overall, I noticed that a few strategies and tactics were working for me (and those can be different for you depending on your values, your mindset, and your lifestyle).
Here they are:
know your why and your purpose (that will keep your motivation high when you experience setbacks),
create a roadmap for a month with the major stepping stones,
have a plan with smaller steps the night before to be ready to go in your day without wasting time/energy thinking,
start your day in a comfortable place with a nice cup or coffee or tea, with clear and positive intent, reminding yourself of why you need to accomplish your goal,
know yourself and when you have a deeper focus (are you a morning, a mid-day, or a night person?),
utilize the "deep focus" time for "difficult"/"high" impact activities (that time for me occurs between 11 am to 3 pm)
use Pomodoro, a great app that allows chunks of 25 to 40 minutes of deep focus, not more (according to your attention span),
turn off all notifications (computer tabs closed, and phone notifications as well),
take breaks to go outside, have a walk, look by your window, do some physical movements to reset your energy level,
don't do more than planned and give yourself permission to go easy on yourself.
And finally, REST and reward yourself.
You are worthy of acknowledging your hard work and your commitment to your future, productive, and fulfilled Self.
So, what about you?
Which one(s) have you already tried, and which one(s) would you like to give a try?
I would love to know your thoughts on this important topic.
