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- The F-Word
Today at a glance:
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 2 seconds
This is week I want to reflect on the F-word: Focus.
It’s something that we all aspire to have, but if you’re like me, it can be tricky to attain.
It’s no secret that we have more distractions in 2024 than ever before, so it’s important that we have the right tools to help us maintain focus.
That’s why today I’m sharing 3 tips to have more focus.
⚙️ The Superpower in Your Settings
Tip number one is all about shielding your focus.
Earlier this week, I shared this visual on social media:
1 tiny notification can complete disrupt any amount of focus.
And it’s not just the time taken to address that single notification that’s the issue.
It’s the time required to get back into deep focus, right?
This is where “Do not disturb” comes into play.
I’m sure many of you already use this feature, but how many of us truly utilise it when we’re meant to be doing deep, meaningful, focussed work?
To protect your focus, consider activating this setting on your devices.
And before you chime in with the “I can’t because I <INSERT VALID REASON LIKE BEING CONTACTABLE FOR LOVED ONES>”, I have just the trick!
Most devices allow you to make exceptions to the “Do not disturb” feature, so if you want to allow banking notifications to come through or calls from your loved ones, you can set that up!
Consider using this feature in your work this week.
(PS - This is one of the activities in this week’s Random Acts of Wiseness, so Thursday 11th is the perfect opportunity to try this.)
🎈 Burst the Balloon
Another huge threat to your focus is the desire to do too much.
When you’re attention is divided, it’s difficult to achieve true focus.
The way to tackle this is to list your activities in order of priority, then begin tackling them one at a time.
I have personal experience with this running Wisdom Made Easy.
As you can expect, posting content on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter/X, Threads, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, this newsletter, my website, working on client projects and producing some upcoming goodies for you all takes a lot of work.
But if I try to do all of them at once, I achieve hardly anything.
To tackle this, I’ll set myself sprints. For example, I will schedule a few months of content in one sitting.
That way, I can devote my entire focus to scheduling social media posts for one day, meaning that I don’t have to think about it at all when I’m working towards a client deadline.
I’m able to achieve more by focussing on less.
📝 Are you trying to focus on too much?
🧭 Where Do You Focus?
Another way that we can achieve more focus is by ensuring that we’re focussing on the right thing.
We often believe that we lack enough time to achieve what we’re focussed on, but it could that we need more direction.
Here’s some wisdom from Zig Ziglar:
“Lack of direction, not lack of time is the problem. We all have 24 hour days.”
- Zig Ziglar
This quote hits the nail on the head.
It could be that you’re struggling to achieve focus because you’re not focussing on the right thing.
It is much easier to achieve a flow state when we’re truly engaged in what we are doing.
If the direction you’re pursuing is not truly aligned with who you are, you will never reach optimal levels of focus.
📝 Take a moment to consider the direction that you’re focussing on.
📝 Journal Prompts
• How could you use “Do not disturb” to help you focus?
• Are you trying to focus on too much?
• Does your direction truly align with who you are?
Consider journaling through the above questions yourself.
✍️ What I’m Working On
I’m currently busy working on a really exciting client project.
I can’t say any more at this time, but I’ll be sure to share when I’m allowed to.
But don’t worry - I’ve not forgotten about you!
Soon I’ll have a free 7-day wellbeing resource for you to download!
It’ll be available for download via this newsletter, so check back in the coming weeks to hear more!
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😊 Thank You!
Thanks for checking out this issue of the WISER Newsletter. If you have any feedback, I would love to hear it!
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Catch you in the next issue!
Thanks,
Michael
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