A few of my readers recently emailed me to ask about how I go about writing my articles. They mentioned that it must take some time to write them. It does. I have some articles which approach the 10,000-word mark and they do take time. Even my shorter articles take some time. I spent 3.5 hours on one article this week. The key to getting them done is focused work, i.e. periods where I am solely focused on the work that I am committed to for that period. Everything else is blocked out and non-existent during this time.
Everything can’t be focused work, but I do have some focused work in both my personal and working lives. In this article, I use one example from each. From my working life, I discuss writing articles while from my personal life, I use the example of meditation. Because we all work on different things, in different ways, I can’t be prescriptive but the advice in this article should help you introduce focused work into your daily routine.
You can get a copy of my FREE Report to Improve Your Focus and Increase Your Productivity.
The unacknowledged benefit of focused work
This article focuses on the value of focused work in getting your work done to the highest standard, in the best time. However, there is one massive benefit of focused work which rarely gets mentioned and, I think you should be aware of it. Focused work has a meditative quality to it. When you are truly focused on the task at hand, you block out everything else. This then helps you to get a better perspective on other issues when you return to them because you stopped being absorbed in them.
I am currently dealing with a big issue outside of my work which has at times absorbed me. Because I do my focused work and, in doing so, give myself some distance from this issue, I have a better perspective when I have to think about it again. This stops other issues from controlling me and allows me to make better decisions when I am required to make a decision.
Simply put, focused work improves your perspective and decision making in every area of your life, even when those issues have nothing to do with the nature of your work. That’s an amazing benefit for a small amount of effort.
6 Steps to focused work
The following 6 steps should help you introduced more focused periods of work into your life.
1. Time block
When you want to get some important work done, you can’t take the attitude of I will do it when I get some time. You need to make the time or, you will never have the time. Focused work means that the work becomes your number one priority for the period that you have set aside to work on it. But for that to work, you must set the time aside.
When you set time aside for focused work, you are telling yourself that nothing, barring emergencies, is going to distract you from that work. It is an amazing quirk of human psychology that when you leave yourself with no other option, your ability to get the work done on time, and to a higher standard, improves immensely.
One such example is Parkinson’s Law, where you reduce the amount of time available for a task/project. Your first reaction to the reduced time allocation would probably be to panic. That is understandable. But, once you have calmed down, you set about the task with conviction. You suddenly find that you are better able to discern what is important from what is unimportant. By removing the unimportant, you can move quicker and increase the quality with less effort.
Related
You can check out my article on Parkinson’s Law.
It is an amazing quirk of human psychology that when you leave yourself with no other option, your ability to get the work done on time, and to a higher standard, improves immensely.
2. Be disciplined and consistent
I won’t lie to you. The first few times you try time blocking your focused work, you may struggle a little. That is because you have not built the habit yet. You have been too inconsistent in your past efforts and you are resisting the change. Even though you know that the change is for the better, you are stuck in your old ways and risk failure at something new. That is another quirk of human psychology, we would rather stick with the devil we know than risk progress/improvement.
The key here is to do whatever you set out to do for that period, every time that you have committed to do it. Soon, it will become an ingrained habit and your performance and consistency will improve.
Disciplined Meditation
It might sound strange that someone would consider meditation to be focused work but for me it is. It is important internal work which I do to become more of who I am on a deeper level.
I recently extended the duration of my meditations from 15 minutes, twice per day, to 45 minutes twice per day. This has meant large changes to the way I orgainse my day. At first, I found sitting for 45 minutes to be difficult and the quality of my meditation suffered but, I am now starting to see the quality of the meditations improve again as I have been disciplined and consistent about sitting twice per day for the 45 minutes.
Related
You can check out my articles on The Benefits of Self-Discipline and The Importance of Self-Discipline.
3. Make a start
When you are making any change to your life, it can seem daunting and overwhelming. Dedicating yourself to your focused work can be a big change if you have not been so committed in the past.
The reason it can all seem so daunting and overwhelming is that you are focusing on the whole task from start to finish. All you need to do is to make a start. Momentum will help you with the rest.
When I am resistant to my meditation, I just sit in my chair, set the timer for 45 minutes, and close my eyes. At that point, the habit of meditation kicks in, and the resistance is gone. Before I even know it, the 45 minutes is up and the beeper on my timer is going off.
The Disciplined Start
When I am focused on my writing, I sit down in my computer chair, turn my computer on and open Microsoft Word. Usually, I start writing something quickly but if I don’t, I don’t panic. If I have set aside 4 hours for this focused work, I will sit there for 4 hours, even if I don’t write anything. I have never had to do that but in the early days, you may need to build the discipline with a small amount of extra effort.
It is another quirk of human psychology that once we have made a start on something, no matter how small that start is, we are significantly more likely to complete it.
Related
You can check out my article on Getting started is easy when you take these 5 actions.
4. Keep going
Momentum is a beautiful thing. Remember that it takes more energy to start a car than it does to cruise along once you are up to speed. Once you have started the engine up, it is easier to keep going. Just being aware of this will help you to keep pushing with your focused work until momentum kicks in.
Depending on the nature of your focused work, it may help to think of it as a two-person relay race. You have the person who must make the explosive start to get up to full speed. Once they hit full speed, it is then time for them to hand on the baton to the person who operates at full speed and gets you to the finish line. The person who makes the explosive start is your conscious mind while the person who operates on cruise control is your subconscious where you don’t need to think a lot about what you are doing because you know what you are doing.
Related
You can check out my article on 7 Steps to build your momentum.
You can get a copy of my FREE Report to Improve Your Focus and Increase Your Productivity.
5. Outline, if possible
This tip will not apply to every type of focused work e.g. it does not apply to my mediation. But where possible, it is especially useful.
When I sat down to write this article this morning, as part of my focused work, I first typed up the key points I wanted to make. Then I added to each of those key points. Finally, I wrote the introduction and conclusion. By doing it in this order, I was able to break the article down into small chunks and work on them. When I had written up each of the key points, I had a good-sized article without thinking too much about the article itself. This is less daunting and overwhelming. In fact, by the time that my mind registers that I am writing an article, I have nearly written the entire article.
Fooling Your Resistance
This approach can be taken to many different types of focused work. Imagine you want to make 10 customer care calls today. You can start by gathering the information you need about each of the 10 customers.This is the outlining.
Then you take one call at a time, make the call, write up your notes, and schedule any follow-up. You can then immediately make the next call.
The power of momentum will have you have halfway through the calls before your mind even has a chance to develop any resistance.
So, in each of the examples above, outlining breaks your work down into bite-sized chunks. You can then fly through these chunks and get through your work with reduced resistance.
Related
You can check out my article on breaking tasks down.
6. Remove all distractions
If your boss gave you 2 hours to complete a major new job, which you have never done before, how would you feel? How would you feel if he then told you that you were not getting any training, help, or support but if you didn’t complete it perfectly and on time, you would be fired? Surely you would realise that you are being set up for failure; that your boss is getting in the way of your success.
It is easy to recognise these problems when it is somebody else getting in your way but do you ever recognise that you are getting in your own way? As I sit here to write this article, I do not have the internet open. I do not have social media open and my phone is in a different part of my house. All that I have in this room are my desk and chair, computer, pen and paper, me, and a drink. I don’t need anything else to get the job done so, there is nothing else here.
That is what it means to remove distractions. If I was checking my phone, email, etc. I would not be putting my entire focus on the job at hand. Focused work means I must be focused while working. So, all other potential distractions must go. That is how I give myself the best chance to succeed at this task.
You wouldn’t be happy if somebody else restricted your chances to succeed so, don’t do it to yourself.
Prioritise Your Priorities
Focused work requires you to say 'No' to the unimportant so that you can put yourself first and focus your time and energy on what is most important to you.
'Prioritise Your Priorities: How to Say 'No' to Others so you can say 'Yes' to Yourself' will teach you how to say 'No' without upsetting others.
Conclusion
There is some of our work that can be done without being entirely focused. We can still be available to others if they need us and we can jump between tasks if it seems necessary. But when it comes to our most important work, focus is essential. Focus allows us to get it done quickly and to a higher standard. This requires dedicated periods of what I call focused work. This means eliminating all distractions, setting aside the time, getting started, maintaining momentum, having self-discipline, and breaking it down into small, bite-sized chunks, where possible. When you do all of this, you will become focused and effective. You will give yourself the best chance of success and, even on those rare occasions where you don’t succeed, you will be able to take comfort in the fact that you did your very best.