There is a great challenge in every business – its called being unfocused or too broad. When your message is too broad, people fail to understand
Narrow your focus
what you can do.
Over the last week, people have been telling me to narrow my focus. To just deal in one small area. Now one thing that happens as we age is that we have all this knowledge and experience and it is hard to narrow our focus. We can be a generalist rather than a specialist and narrowing our focus to help others understand us is difficult.
And then women learn to keep an ear on the children, an eye on the pets and our mind on our business. How can we focus or should the question be which do we focus on? Our ability to focus on more than one thing at a time seems hard wired into most mothers.
So here are 3 Tips to Narrow your focus:
- Turn of EVERYTHING else for 5 minutes at a time. This means small short bursts of focus rather than long intense focus. In those 5 or ten minutes concentrate intently on the one thing you want to get done. Think of nothing else. This tip deals with getting something done, meditation, communication or even play. When you focus for a short period of time, it is possible to lock out the world and just know one thing. Your challenge comes when we try to do it for too long. And when you are concentrating, you will find that the 5 minutes extends easily to complete the task.
- Before you begin to concentrate, take time to breathe 5 times slowly. Inhale for 5, hold for 5 and exhale for 5. While you do this just listen to the breath. And once you breathe out that last breath, start focusing on what it is that needs to be done.
- Dissect the task down to small achievable bites. When we sit to eat a meal, we eat it one bite at a time. When we write, we write one word at a time. When we sing or play music, it is one note after the other. The challenge comes when we try to sing or eat or write everything at once. We choke and so do those watching us. So just a little. Just a morsel. And when offering something to others, remember that they too can only move one bite at a time.
Narrowing your focus is definitely a challenge. It takes practice, research and control. But when you narrow your focus, even if only for 5 minutes, you are able to achieve so much more than when you try to do it all. Its about finding the key piece of a puzzle and building from there.
Try it. While you can enjoy the whole field, look at the single blade of grass or the single clover. When you narrow your focus, you declutter your mind and reduce your stress and achieve so much more.
Where is your focus today? Can you narrow it and achieve even more today?
Passionately helping you grow your business
Roberta Budvietas
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Guest Blogging with Jon Morrow
The problem is that when we eat one bite at a time, we still try to get something of everything into that bite, whether it is a soup or salad or casserole or wrap or whatever. Focusing is not easy.
Yes David it is hard to focus. The lesson I am learning though is that without the focus, I get confused and so do the people I am dealing with
Hi Roberta,
Thanks for this, it was much needed! As I reading your article it became abundantly clear that I am not eating one bite at a time. lol I am going to step back and work on narrowing my focus as I’m sure it will make a difference.
Richard
Richard Petrillo recently posted..Mobius Loop Review – Where Network Marketing Goes Beyond Network Marketing
When we need the message, it often appears Richard as long as we are receptive. That looking at one bite is making a difference for me. Good luck narrowing that focus
Twitter: millercathy
June 26, 2012
Great, simple tip, Roberta. And I love simple.
Starting with 5 minutes is like exercising. You start slow and soon you will find you have more endurance.
Cathy Miller recently posted..Annoying Business Jargon Even the Pros Use
Cathy, most people are only able to focus fully for very short periods of time. And the key here is focus so small doses work best.
Short bursts of focus is what works for me Roberta. That is a great tip and I know it works! Especially since I have been working from our home. I have to get out, take a walk, rejuvenate and get my creative mind going again. This helps me to focus in on a task or project.
It is great advice to take small achievable bites, since getting things done is a great motivator. Really appreciate your insight on this. Now I’m off to focus on my next project!
Lynn Brown recently posted..Cracking The Puzzle Of Your Facebook Business Fans
The nice thing with small achievable things Lynn is it gives you a sense of accomplishment. And overwhelm so often comes when you feel overwhelmed by what to do first or next
I like the idea of breaking tasks down into manageable bites. Otherwise, a large task can be too overwhelming. Taking five minutes to relax before getting into a task is a great idea, too.
Lisa Kanarek recently posted..All Dressed Up: Keeping the Family Organized
It works Lisa and just stops the overwhelm feeling from occuring