Often we get caught up in a whirlwind of to-do lists, people we have to call, sales to be made, meetings to attend and countless other little details and future commitments that need to be fulfilled without taking time to breathe and focus on the present. Our lives are increasingly busy and require a level of multi-tasking never seen before. By failing to stay present we actually hurt our businesses and by extension our businesses' future growth and expansion. You will be better able to fight back against the recession by staying present and giving your full attention to the "now."
Do One Thing At A Time Really Well
You can only focus on one task at a time. If you are giving your attention to many tasks at once you are spreading yourself too thin and producing inferior results. If you disagree with this statement let's take a quick example to help explain this idea. Have you ever been on the phone with someone who is watching t.v., paying attention to their children or is otherwise working on something? You can tell right? Even if they deny it, you know that they are not giving you their full attention because they respond slower to your questions or answer you with "uh-huh" one too many times. Multi-tasking in the end makes projects take longer to complete and potentially makes your results worse than they would be if you were giving the project your full attention.
Master The Details
Your brain has to pause and switch between neurons to move back and forth between the different projects or tasks that you're working on. Every time you switch, you have a mini-delay while your brain processes concepts to get you back up to speed with where you were in the task. If you have enough distractions this process could take you several minutes to complete. This accounts for the sensation of losing your train of thought when speaking or an inability to focus on a task after coming back from a distraction. By focusing one task at a time you are better able to handle all the requirements of a project. You are less likely to forget a step or a crucial detail. You will also get your work completed faster because you will not have to constantly make switches in your brain back to the task at hand.
Your Future Will Be Better If You Focus On The Now
You cannot act in the past, you cannot act in the future, you can only act now. Regardless of how many items you have to complete or how many fires you have to put out at any one time, you cannot be in two places at once and you cannot do anything about a situation that hasn't happened yet. While you can set up processes to help you deal with problems in the future, your energy and focus needs to stay with the present. Worrying about future contingencies takes energy from your present ability to handle and accomplish your current goals.
Don't Dwell In "What If's"
Stop thinking about and letting your mind energy dwell in "recession-land." The more you think about the recession or bad economic times the more you will actually create failing conditions for your business. You'll subconsciously sabotage your business if you continuously think about the market dropping or the financial crisis on Wall Street.
You'll start to think things like "my customer won't buy our product because of the market" and your actions will start to match that mentality. You will make less sales calls, you'll lower the amount you ask people to buy or even lower the price of your products without any real need to do so, all to keep up with the mental image you have in your brain of a slowing economy. Don't tell yourself "no" before your customer has even heard your pitch. Let them tell you "no" and then redo the offers to match their expectations if need be. Your first and only thought should be that you have a superior product, that is worth its price and that the customer will benefit greatly from your service or good. That's it. Ignore the recession and press on.
Pick Your Five Things To Accomplish Each Day
Start out each day by making a list of the five most critical things you need to accomplish and then start working your list. Begin on number one and do not work on number two until number one is complete. Do not open e-mail, take phone calls or engage in any other distraction while you are working on your list. If you have meetings or other interruptions, come back to your list each time you have quiet time to work. If quiet time is a problem then set up some boundaries with your employees or co-workers. Shut your door and put a sign on it saying you are in a meeting. By engaging in this process you will be able to focus completely on the 'now" and your actions will be much more effective. If you do not finish all your five items, then just start the next day with the rest of the projects on your list and repeat the process.
Breathe and Push Through Problems One Step At A Time
If a crisis or fire does pop up, just mentally relist your five most critical tasks. Take the problem and place it at the number one spot. You will not be able to focus on anything until you calm your mind and put out the fire. Once extinguished, your ability to focus will return to normal and you can breath and move on with your productive day. - 18098
Do One Thing At A Time Really Well
You can only focus on one task at a time. If you are giving your attention to many tasks at once you are spreading yourself too thin and producing inferior results. If you disagree with this statement let's take a quick example to help explain this idea. Have you ever been on the phone with someone who is watching t.v., paying attention to their children or is otherwise working on something? You can tell right? Even if they deny it, you know that they are not giving you their full attention because they respond slower to your questions or answer you with "uh-huh" one too many times. Multi-tasking in the end makes projects take longer to complete and potentially makes your results worse than they would be if you were giving the project your full attention.
Master The Details
Your brain has to pause and switch between neurons to move back and forth between the different projects or tasks that you're working on. Every time you switch, you have a mini-delay while your brain processes concepts to get you back up to speed with where you were in the task. If you have enough distractions this process could take you several minutes to complete. This accounts for the sensation of losing your train of thought when speaking or an inability to focus on a task after coming back from a distraction. By focusing one task at a time you are better able to handle all the requirements of a project. You are less likely to forget a step or a crucial detail. You will also get your work completed faster because you will not have to constantly make switches in your brain back to the task at hand.
Your Future Will Be Better If You Focus On The Now
You cannot act in the past, you cannot act in the future, you can only act now. Regardless of how many items you have to complete or how many fires you have to put out at any one time, you cannot be in two places at once and you cannot do anything about a situation that hasn't happened yet. While you can set up processes to help you deal with problems in the future, your energy and focus needs to stay with the present. Worrying about future contingencies takes energy from your present ability to handle and accomplish your current goals.
Don't Dwell In "What If's"
Stop thinking about and letting your mind energy dwell in "recession-land." The more you think about the recession or bad economic times the more you will actually create failing conditions for your business. You'll subconsciously sabotage your business if you continuously think about the market dropping or the financial crisis on Wall Street.
You'll start to think things like "my customer won't buy our product because of the market" and your actions will start to match that mentality. You will make less sales calls, you'll lower the amount you ask people to buy or even lower the price of your products without any real need to do so, all to keep up with the mental image you have in your brain of a slowing economy. Don't tell yourself "no" before your customer has even heard your pitch. Let them tell you "no" and then redo the offers to match their expectations if need be. Your first and only thought should be that you have a superior product, that is worth its price and that the customer will benefit greatly from your service or good. That's it. Ignore the recession and press on.
Pick Your Five Things To Accomplish Each Day
Start out each day by making a list of the five most critical things you need to accomplish and then start working your list. Begin on number one and do not work on number two until number one is complete. Do not open e-mail, take phone calls or engage in any other distraction while you are working on your list. If you have meetings or other interruptions, come back to your list each time you have quiet time to work. If quiet time is a problem then set up some boundaries with your employees or co-workers. Shut your door and put a sign on it saying you are in a meeting. By engaging in this process you will be able to focus completely on the 'now" and your actions will be much more effective. If you do not finish all your five items, then just start the next day with the rest of the projects on your list and repeat the process.
Breathe and Push Through Problems One Step At A Time
If a crisis or fire does pop up, just mentally relist your five most critical tasks. Take the problem and place it at the number one spot. You will not be able to focus on anything until you calm your mind and put out the fire. Once extinguished, your ability to focus will return to normal and you can breath and move on with your productive day. - 18098
About the Author:
When you change your habits, actions and attitudes, your whole life will change. Click on www.GlobalSuccessILG.com to learn about how to increase your income and create wealth in your life. This site covers topics from leadership, to tax strategies, to growing your business and many more. Christina Helwig is VP of Wealth Expressions, Inc. and coaches businesses on how to achieve their goals.
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