Internet Marketers - Here’s How To Focus Better
From Willie Crawford.
Many Internet marketers put in long hours yet actually get very little done. They keep very busy, but due to a lack of focus, rarely get anything accomplished. Rather, they rarely get anything FINISHED.
Being busy does not equate to being productive.
You have to develop the discipline to actually focus on the task at hand.
My friend, Dr. Ron Capps, described proper focus in a recent tweet as, „focusing like a man driving in dense fog who can only see 50 feet in front of him.” If you develop that type of focus you will get a lot more done.
Here’s are ways to develop and maintain focus:
1) Use a shorter „to do list.” Yes, there are hundreds of things that you need to get done, but you generally can only do ONE at a time. Looking at a LONG to do list only serves to dishearten you. Instead, I keep two „to do” lists. One is what I’m going to work on today, and that list often has just the ONE thing that I will finish today. I also keep a „master to do list.” That list contains all of the things that I want to get done, and is more to make sure that I don’t forget something, than for any other purpose.
When a new idea pops into my head, I add it to my „master to do list,” then I can forget about it for a while, and go back to really concentrating of what I was previously working on.
2) Only work on the things that you should be working on. As you look at your „to do” lists, you’ll see things that only you can, and should do. You’ll also see lots of things that you can get others to do, and you’ll see things that it won’t make a big difference if they don’t get done. I sometimes just delete things in that last category as the become „overcome by events.”
You should a) focus on getting the most important things done first, and b) only do those things that are the best use of your time.
3) Delegate. This is closely related to #2. However, getting someone else to do things that you shouldn’t be doing frees up you mind to focus on the tasks the you should be doing.
As an example, I run a help desk for customer support, coordinating on joint ventures, and communicating with my staff. I use the Three Pillars Help Desk which you’ll find at https://ThreePillarsHelpDesk.com
This software allows me to assign categories of help tickets to „admins” who have differing levels of authority. I assign them certain categories of tickets, and then I don’t have to think about them at all.
I also have a category on my help desk entitled „Personal For Willie.” Whenever a ticket is entered in that category I get a desktop notification on my laptop. Once a day (or more often if appropriate) I log in and answer those tickets. If my assistants encounter a problems in other help tickets that they can’t handle, they leave me a detailed note in a help ticket using the „Personal For Willie” category.
4) Get sufficient sleep. When you are really, really tired, you don’t think as clearly, and so you are not as focused or efficient. So you must rest and give your body (and mind) time to recouperate when necessary. I’m one of those rare creatures that only requires four hours of sleep a night, so I do put in long hours, but I do rest when tired!
5) Drink sufficient water. There have been numerous studies that show when you are dehydrated even a little bit your ability to think clearly decreases dramatically. Force yourself to drink frequently, since by the time you feel thirsty, you are already partially dehydrated.
6) Work in short bursts, in a quiet environment. Have some spot set aside where you do most of your really focused work. Have all of your tools nearby, and do the work requiring the greatest concentration there.
While it is generally important to work in an environment free of distractions, I find that I do my most creative work best while sitting on the beach. I think that it may have something to do with the ionization of the air.
If you work in a house filled with kids and other family members, it is important that you have a place and scheduled times where you can manage short periods of uninterrupted work. Explain to your family that you need uninterrupted times. If that doesn’t work, get up earlier, or go to bed later, than the rest of the family, and make that when you do your most focused work.
7) When you need to get a project done, develop the discipline to work on absolutely nothing else until it is done. I go as far as to not even answer the telephone when I want to really focus. I turn off the ringer, and turn on the answering machine, so that I am not even aware of incoming calls!
You don’t want to start a dozen different projects because having a dozen half-finished projects still means that you haven’t finished any of them. Instead, focus on just one, and then you’ll have at least one project finished, and hopefully making you money.
Make your motto the same as mine: „Massive Proper Action All The Way Through To Completion!” This is how I’ve managed to write close to 1400 articles, over 50 ebooks, and how I run over 1600 websites.
Implement the tips I’ve just layed out above and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much more productive you are. You’ll get so many more things finished, and you’ll have more free time to use any way that you choose.
Without forcing yourself to implement a few focusing strategies, such as I’ve outlined above, you’ll just go on feeling overwhelmed, and getting very little actually done.
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Willie Crawford is an internet marketing and traffic generation expert. He often distributes content (articles, videos, podcasts, and press releases) to generate highly targeted website traffic. To do that efficiently he uses the automated submission service that you’ll find at https://ibmm.com/epbt
To help you succeed Willie has created The Internet Marketing Inner Circle, a membership site where he frequently brainstorms solutions to problems such as those discussed in this article. Join that discussion for your success at TheInternetMarketingInnercircle.