This is the third article in my productivity series and in this post I want to share what I have learned about how to focus.
When I look back upon my working life I see a very busy and productive person. One who has been through periods of getting lots of things done as well as those periods when I allowed myself to take on too much. The latter drives you bonkers because it is easily avoided with a greater level of focus and organization.
I once viewed the ability to multi-task as a valuable asset, but in hindsight I can clearly see the razor–thin line between efficiency and overload. When a person takes on too much work or makes too many commitments it’s a sign of poor focus and disorganization.
So what’s the cure?
Focus on the most important things, the things that matter most in your life. When we fail to do this, everyone is happy except you, the doer of the good deeds.
As I mentioned, I once allowed myself to become overburdened with all sorts of responsibilities. This led to a level of frustration because I was unable to turn to the projects that really mattered most to me.
I would ask myself, how the hell did this happen?
When I made the decision to sharpen my focus and eliminate those things that were not what mattered most, it took me many months to honor the commitments I made and clear them from my life.
Remove the Clutter from Your Life
When you consider where you are today in relation to your ultimate goal and the fulfillment of your life’s purpose, a stronger sense of urgency may come over you. One that lets you know that a serious change in lifestyle is required. It’s no longer good enough to continue going through life with your dreams and aspirations on the back burner of tomorrow, it’s time to do something now.
That means many of the things that are a part of your life may have to go. If they are not what matters the most, why continue to give these things a higher priority?
Should we not be working on whats most important?
The truth of the matter is this, much of what we allow to clutter our already busy schedules are things that have a greater benefit for others and are not a part of our own goals. It may sound a little selfish, even harsh, but time is so valuable that we really need to evaluate everything we do.
Still, there are family matters and other situations that will have to be addressed no matter what, but it’s the evaluation of other situations that I am speaking of here. Maybe you really don’t have time to do that favor for a friend or run that errand for someone.
Take Time To Make Time
Since we already know what matters most to us we should be doing those things first. Schedule time to get about the business of doing those things that move us closer to where we want to be.
Time moves very quickly, as we all know, so applying a stronger sense of urgency to what really matters is critical if we are to avoid what so many others have not. Someday looking back and realizing that we failed to act in a timely manner, or perhaps not at all is very unsettling.
Take time to make things happen for yourself and do it with a sense of urgency. Your passion is waiting and each day that passes allows the window of opportunity to close a little tighter. We should treat our ambitions as if there are no tomorrows because someday there won’t be.
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14 Responses to How I Learned To Focus On What Matters
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" @Chris_Frailey No problem, Chris. Great weekend to you as well. :-) " — JimiJones
Mr. Jimi,
You hit the nail right on the head. This post has my name written all over it. lol
I’ve been doing a lot of things that have been benefiting others, neglecting my plans and projects. Thank you very much!
Take care,
Evelyn
De-cluttering has hit the spot for me! Like most people I have a stack of balls to keep juggling and up in the air – day job, family life, social life, blog life … the list goes on. I need to be more honest and prioritise properly, not based on emotional blackmail
I agree to prune everything else except the most important area where you want to mark your presence. Spending little time in many places makes you of nowhere.
It was a nice reading Jimi. Wish you good luck.
Hi Suersh.
This was a long lesson for me but finally, I had to come to the realization that I would never hit my mark doing the same routine.
Thanks, man. Glad you enjoyed the post.
You are so right about that emotional blackmail, Kevin.
Funny how that works, or I should say how we ALLOW it to work.
LOL – It happens to good folks like you who care so much that others are okay. At some point we have to ask, “now what about me?”
Thanks, Evelyn.
Love the simplicity of the message, Jimi.
Sharpening the saw regularly is so very important – and yet missed out activity.
Spending those 15 minutes every weekend can make a huge impact on the quality of our workweek.
And spending 5 minutes every morning contemplating the desired outcomes can make us a winner every day.
Absolutely right here Jimi!
Figure out what really matters and do that and keep doing that because as you said, a lot of stuff really doesn’t matter.
Hi Eric.
Focusing on where we want to go is how best to get there. It’s so easy to get caught up on other things that really don’t contribute to your mission.
Good to see you, man.
Great messages Jimi.
Simple yet powerful. Minimalism is a great way to potentially increase your focus and get the job done. Removing clutter and streamlining your life and your space is one of the best ways to do embrace minimalism.
Living out of my backpack for the last 4-5 months I have really been able to see that you do not need much to be productive and enjoy life. Buying the newfangled widget won’t make you more productive.
But taking the bull by the horns and working….that does wonders for productivity.
Hey Steve, how are you?
“… taking the bull by the horns”, that says it all. Too often people fail to take action or find themselves focusing on the wrong things. For instance, reading all the blogs and ebooks in the world will get you nowhere without actually focusing on a task and getting something done.
Minimalism, when less is more.
[...] wrote about focusing on what matters in a previous post and I’ve been doing just that. Realizing my focus has shifted somewhat, I [...]
I just found your blog and this was the post that caught my eye. Focus and prioritize- Yes!
Hi Monica.
Focusing is the name of the game in all we do. It is easy to get distracted online with all that swirls about but keeping an eye toward our goals and objectives is what matters most.
Thanks for visiting!