Fix Your Focus

Are you constantly wishing you had more time? Truth is, you probably have plenty of it. You’re just not focused, and not using your time wisely. Everyone receives 24 hours each day. There’s a reason why some people accomplish much more than others.

Reasons you never have enough time, and how to free it up

You fail to prioritize. What’s the most important activity you must do in order for you to accomplish your objective? If you’re not asking yourself this question regularly, you’re not getting the most bang for your time and effort. It’s easy to stay busy and accomplish very little. Once you decide what is important, the next question is “ “What is the best way to accomplish it?”
You waste it. This could be due to procrastination, and inefficient work habits. Make the choice to avoid wasting time, period.
You’re disorganized. When you’re not organized, everything takes longer than it should. You spend valuable time looking for a pair of clean socks, car keys, searching for computer files, trying to pull things off at the last minute.
Disorganized people never seem to have enough time, they’re frequently late with their work. There are countless resources available (apps, calendars, dropbox, project management software, etc.). Use them.
You have too many distractions in your life. Social media interactions, TV, needlepoint, your baseball card collection, noisy kids, clutter, or your prize-winning rose bushes. Remove unnecessary things and schedule. Minimize the distractions you can’t remove!
You don’t start your day early enough. Most of us do little in the evening. Often, we ly around the house, crawl social media etc. Many highly successful people skip these hours, by going to bed and waking up extra early. Your brain tends to shut down by the late afternoon, whether you started your day at 9:00AM or 5:00AM. Give yourself a few extra productive hours, by getting up early and going to bed early.
Failing to keep track of your time. Track how you spend your time every day. Switch tasks when appropriate so everything receives the attention it requires. Keep a simple journal. Make a record of how you spend each hour.
You don’t have a plan for the day. Your days shouldn’t be random or determined on the fly. Plan the next day before going to bed. Spend your day executing the plan as much as possible.
You’re not focused. We’ve been told to “focus” or “concentrate” since kindergarten. Too bad the education system never taught us how. If we sit down to work on something for an hour, how many minutes is our attention truly focused on the task? We probably have plenty of time to accomplish our daily tasks, if we focus. Practice meditation. Practice focusing. Every change we desire takes time. Be patient with your setbacks and failures.

Make the most of your time by prioritizing, removing distractions, and learning how to focus. You have all the time you need if you’re willing to make the necessary adjustments to yourself and your life. You have 24 hours each day. What will you have to show for tomorrow?