Finding focus when you're feeling overwhelmed
The beginning of January started for me full of overwhelm and confusion. I was lacking focus or motivation. So I thought I’d share with you a few things I’ve learnt over this past month, and hopefully it’ll help you too!
I spend a lot of time on social media - using the excuse that I need it for my job. Have you ever tracked how long you spend on it? It can be quite shocking and eye opening!! I was definitely feeling like I was in a rut: comparing myself to everyone else around me, listening to so much noise - what everyone else had planned for 2020, what everyone else was achieving already, one week into this very dreary month… It started to make to want to withdraw and just hibernate for a few months. I felt like the break over Christmas was really good but then getting going again in the new year was just hard.
So I decided to make some changes.
It’s engrained in my thinking that you need to be present every.single.day on social media to make a difference in your business. So making this decision felt slightly uncomfortable. But, coming off social media was a game changer! I decided to delete apps from my phone and stop comparing my progress to everyone’s online progress. I also was given a book to read. It has massively helped me find my focus and get through tasks that normally would just sit on my to-do list for months on end, until I eventually forgot about them.
This book is called The One Thing by Gary Keller.
Here are 8 things that I’ve taken away from it that have helped me find my focus:
There is limited time, energy and willpower each day but our to-do lists are huge. There is always so much to get done and accomplish. As a result, we get overwhelmed and distracted - and never getting anything done. So, we need to ask ourselves: If we had to do just ONE THING out of everything - what would that be?
We only have a limited amount of willpower. Research has shown that it takes 66 days to form a habit. Once something has become a habit, it won’t break your willpower. So maybe making your ONE THING today would just be focussing on that task that you keep putting off - then all the other tasks seem much easier and don’t require as much willpower.
A domino can knock over another domino 1.5 times bigger than itself. Once you get your ONE THING done and out of the way, it creates a momentum to to keep going and power through the rest of the tasks.
Multi-tasking is a myth. Doing two things at once will never be done right or to the best of your ability. Doing two things at once will cost you time rather than save it.
In order to achieve your five year goals, you’ll need to do ONE THING this year. In order to reach your one year goal, you’ll need to do ONE THING this month. In order to reach your one month goal, you’ll need to do ONE THING this week. In order to reach your one week goal, you’ll need to do ONE THING today.
You work life is divided into two distinct areas - WHAT MATTERS and then EVERYTHING ELSE. Take what matters the most - give it everything you’ve got and then be ok with what happens to the rest.
Thinking big is essential to achieving big results. Success needs action and action requires thought. Change your mindset to think BIGGER. We all have the same amount of time in a day. What we do with that time is determined by what we think. I need to change my way of thinking - to have a growth mindset - rather than limited and small mindset - that only stunts me and keeps me in a box.
Don’t fear failure. This one was a big one for me. Do you automatically think of failure as a weakness and instantly want to quit? Guilty. But we need to see failure as part of our growth. Because when we fail, we stop and ask ourselves, why? We learn from our mistakes and adapt/ make changes so that we don’t fail again. It’s seeing failure as part of the process on the way to success and being ok with that.
I’m only half way through and have already learnt so much! I’d really encourage you to read the book if you’re struggling too. What are some things you do to help you find your focus? Leave them in the comments below - I’d love to know!