Do You Suffer from "Lackofocus" Disease?

Today was my first day to moderate on the Strictly Business Network on RYZE and I blew it! I was late. 5 hours late to be exact! I should have introduced myself at 9 am and immediately tackled a topic that would interest the members of the network. After all, that's my job as a moderator - to promote conversations among members and to be a resource.

Has that ever happened to you? You get so engrossed in what you are doing you forget to show up/take a break/eat/etc.? It's been happening to be a lot lately. So today I posted my comments about the POWER OF FOCUS. Because I really need to start focusing and I know how much it helps me personally and professionally when I do. What about you? Do you have trouble focusing sometimes?

Does it feel like you are constantly going in ten different directions, are you easily distracted, have you really planned what it is you want or should be focusing on, you have a hard time saying no to other peoples requests or favors, does it feel as though sometimes all you want to do is get through the day? If so, then you may be experiencing varying degrees of what I call "lackofocus" disease. When you suffer from lackofocus disease, productivity is down and stress is on the rise. That's the bad news. The good news is that it is curable :).

First you have to Define your Purpose, Set Goals based upon your purpose, and have an "Expiration date" on achieving your goals so you can get closer to fulfilling your purpose.

Here are some tips to get and stay more focused:

Don't say "YES" to anything right away - Take time to assess the request. Then turn down any requests or opportunities that will not help you either achieve your goals, realize your purpose or increase your knowledge. Don't do projects simply because you feel obligated to do them. Pay attention to how you spend your time.

Capitalize on your "productive time." IF you are a morning person, then that is most likely your optimum time to accomplish your goals and you will find yourself more productive in a shorter time frame than forcing yourself to focus on a goal during another time of day. My best time is 10 am to 1pm so that's when I do the important stuff such as writing, planning and working on projects. I use the other times of day to communicate with my colleagues and friends, network, check email and file.

Ask for help - If you find it difficult to stay focused, get a mentor or coach to help keep you on track. Tell her or him about your aspirations, what your current and future goals are and how you plan to achieve them - its amazing how much more you can accomplish with an accountability partner.

Eliminate unnecessary activities - that includes the busy work you do every day that does not help you achieve your goals. Think email - instead of checking email every few minutes try scheduling time during the day to focus only on email - make it during your less productive time.

For one week (or even one day) keep a journal of all the distractions you have faced. Take a good look at the list and decide to eliminate or manage those things that are causing your lackofocus.

Learn to enjoy down-time without feeling "unproductive" - this will re-energize you to begin again. Focus is about Purpose and Determination and Balance. When you get focused, you accomplish more, you feel empowered, not to mention it can really add to your bottom line.

Start with baby steps - if you take on more than you can handle, you will be right back where you started. When planning your goals, break them down into smaller do-able activities then pat yourself on the back as you work through and reach each goal.

If you want to know just how focused you are, take this quiz: http://www.thepoweroffocus.ca/take_our_quiz.asp

What rituals you have for getting (staying) focused? Feel free to share in the comments section of my blog.

BTW, feel free to stop by the Strictly Business Network on RYZE – it’s a brand new network on RYZE run by the visionary, Rima McDonald of Business Resources Podcasting Directory.

Stay focused!

Heidi (getting focused) Richards

This and that for Women and Online Tools Recommendations

When I was surfing the net the other day I came across a few interesting things about and for women and thought I'd share it with my blog buddies ...

The International Museum of Women invites YOU to be a part of Imagining Ourselves, an online global exhibit featuring art, photographs, essays and film by young women in their 20s and 30s answering the question, "What defines your generation?"If you have a story to tell, images to share, a voice that wants to be heard, we welcome your submission. We are accepting film, audio, images and text on these issues: War and Dialogue, Young Men, Motherhood, Image and Identity and for an Online Film Festival. Get to know our exhibit by going to our site and clicking on the Imagining Ourselves exhibit.Read stories, view artwork and film and listen to music and spoken word from the many young women from all around the world.Be inspired. Get involved. Take action.Visit the International Museum of Women online here!



UBS and Wharton Executive Education — Partnering To Support Women in Transition - Are you a professional woman who is returning to the workforce? Jump-start your transition! UBS and Wharton have designed a program to support women returning to the workforce after a career break. This program is designed for women in the process of returning to the workforce. Participants will update their business knowledge, develop transition strategies, and network with business leaders. This highly-selective program is offered at no charge to qualified applicants through funding from UBS.

Online tools I recently discovered ... they're FREE!

Go2It -Do you have tons of links you want on your page but you don't want your page to reach the moon? Get Go2It. It lets you place millions of links in one drop down menu. Not only that, since there is no configuration, it's very easy to setup! And it’s FREE!

Keyword Marketing Buddy v.2.3 is a great tool that lets you compare the popularity of several different key- word groups at once. Enter in a few general keywords, and Keyword Marketing Buddy will generate a list of keywords related to the original keywords and or.der them according to popularity. It will even tell you how many searches each keyword gets a month.

Wurldbook Personal Internet Intelligence is very useful for gathering your own personal intelligence to monitor competitors, monitor news, find opportunities and save time.

Happy Saturday,

Heidi