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Do you feel like you are all over the place and keep jumping from one priority to the next? Or that you are always in motion but achieving very little and wondering where your time goes?

I am guilty of both, and after reading a multitude of books and blogs on time management and years of trying different things to be more efficient, I have found that the one single thing that most improves productivity is FOCUS. Here are the three things that could really help you improve your focus:

1 – Prioritise and FOCUS on the critical tasks to achieve your main goals

The Pareto principle indicates that 80% of your results come from 20% of the effort, and this can be applied to anything. FOCUS on that 20%. Gary Keller and Jay Papasan in their book “The One Thing” even suggest to go further and continue prioritising until you focus on ONE single thing that is going to provide you with the most value. Prioritise your tasks and make sure that you are focusing on those that provide the most value and help you achieve your main goals.

2 – Avoid distractions and “multitasking”

Have you noticed how when you are doing something, and one of the kids comes to ask you something, or you get an e-mail or social media notification you completely lose focus, and it takes you some time to get into the same task again? Multiple studies have shown that task switching and “multitasking” have a negative impact on productivity, as we waste time when we switch between tasks. So, avoid distractions and “multitasking”; switch off social media while you are working (maybe schedule a couple of slots a day to check e-mails and social media) and find a quiet place to work where you are less likely to be disturbed. FOCUS on the task at hand.

3 – Take action

 I loved James Clear’s post about taking action, where he talks about the difference between motion and action. It highlights how we all pack our lives with a lot of activities that we think we need to do but ultimately don’t help us achieve our goals (motion) instead of actually taking action to achieve those goals. One of James’ examples is:

“If I outline 20 ideas for articles I want to write, that’s motion. If I actually write and publish an article, that’s action.”

Yes, you need to work on outlining future articles, learning new skills etc, but ultimately you need to take action to achieve your goals.

Start now by making a list of the key goals that are going to help you achieve your goals and move your business forward. Choose 1-3 main goals to focus on for the next few weeks and think about the steps that you need to take to achieve those goals. Focus on those.

Take ACTION now!