Why Mental Focus Is Crucial For Success
Mental focus is the most important skill when it comes to success in any area of your life. It, more than talent or skill, will help move you forward and help you reach your goals, no matter what they are.
To focus means to concentrate on a particular task or problem for a period of time. It’s something you can get better at with practice. For now, let’s look at exactly why mental focus is crucial for success and how it can help you get things done.
Focus Keeps Distractions At Bay
Distractions are all around us. You sit down at your desk and end up checking email, browsing through Facebook, or getting lost on YouTube watching video after video.
We get distracted by new projects, things that need taken care of around the house or the office, and of course by family members and coworkers. With all these distractions it’s a wonder we get anything done.
There’s always something else that demands our attention, or a fun new project we’d rather be working on.
This is where focus can make a huge difference and help you get things done. Focus is like a pair of blinders. It helps you concentrate on the task at hand until it is done.
Focus Keeps You From Making Mistakes
Because you are not constantly distracted and you’re giving your full attention to whatever it is you are working on at the moment, you’re less likely to make mistakes. Mistakes happen when your attention is divided and you’re not fully engaged and immersed in the task you are working on.
Being focused, on the other hand, helps you concentrate on your work. It allows you to make less mistakes to begin with and when you do make them, if you’re not distracted, you’re that much more likely to catch them and fix them.
The end result is a better quality product, no matter what you’re working on.
Focus Helps You Get More Done Faster
Have you ever worked on a tight deadline? Let’s say you have to finish a report or write a blog post before you can head out to lunch to meet a friend.
If you’re highly focused (thanks to that looming deadline), a task that would usually take you half a day is suddenly accomplished in 30 minutes.
Best of all, the end result is often better than you’re usual work because you’re highly focused and are getting into the flow where everything just comes together almost effortlessly.
Focus In Your Business
Mental focus is the ability to concentrate on a single task or project without getting distracted.
Learning to focus better and for longer periods of time on any business tasks, will help you get more done in less time, do higher quality work, and become more successful overall.
In today’s economy, being self-motivated and focused is becoming more and more important. It doesn’t matter what field you’re in, if you’re working for someone else, or if you’re in business for yourself.
You have to be able to focus and show results without strict supervision or a detailed assignment that spells out each stop of your task.
When you’re working independently, particularly from home or in your own office, it’s easy to get distracted. Most of us work on from our computers where sites like Facebook and YouTube to name a few are a constant source of temptation and distraction.
Being able to focus on the things you need to get done will help you get your work done in a timely fashion and it gives you a leg up on your competition who may not be as focused as you are.
Here are a few tips to help you get more mental focus while you’re working. Use them in your own business, in your job, or even when you’re studying.
They will help you concentrate and be more productive for longer stretches of time. That means you can get your work or assignment done and move on to something more fun.
Tip #1 – Cut Out Distractions
Shut the office door, take the phone off the hook, stick your cell phone in a drawer and don’t even think about opening your email program or anything else on your computer that could distract you.
Instead, keep only the programs and files you need for the project you’re currently working on open and get to work.
Tip #2 – Practice And Workout Your “Focus Muscles”
Being able to focus for long periods of time is a required skill. Think of it as a muscle that you’re working out.
Start with making yourself focus 100% on a task for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. As this gets easier and easier, keep increasing the time until you can easily focus fully for 30 to 45 minutes at time throughout your workday.
Tip #3 – Take Breaks And Give Your Brain A Rest
No one can give it 100% all of the time. Just as important as working on increased focus is taking regular breaks. Give it your all for 15 minutes, then get up and take a break.
Get a glass of water, make a phone call, attend a meeting or check your email, then get right back to another 15 to 45 minute interval of focused work. Setting a timer can help with this in the beginning.
Give these tips a try and experience for yourself how much more you can get done when you increase your mental focus at work.
How Mental Focus Can Fire-up Personal Life
Our lives are busy. We’re juggling families, households, jobs, and various social obligations, while constantly being distracted by media in one form or another.
When it comes to our personal life, we have two options. We can let our surroundings take over and “go with the flow”, or we can work on mental focus for our personal life and do the things we really want to do.
Yes, it takes time and energy to come up with personal goals and then figure out how to go about reaching them. Some days it’s much easier to come up, plop down on the couch and start binging our favorite Netflix series.
While there is certainly a time and place for this, I’m sure you don’t want to wake up one day and realize that you’ve missed out on life for the past few years.
Working on mental focus outside of work and business, helps you prioritize and make time for the people and things that are important to you.
It helps you figure out a way to make it to your child’s soccer game or play performance, enjoy your favorite hobbies, spend quality time with your spouse and close friends, while still having enough time to relax and watch a movie and get a good night’s sleep.
The key is to pinpoint time wasters and focus on what’s important to you. It may help to keep a time journal 
for a week or two. Grab a notebook and start jotting down what you do throughout the day.
It’s up to you if you want to track what you do at work as well. Make sure you track everything you do during your free time from the time you get up to the time you go to bed.
If you’re spending your morning drinking coffee and browsing the internet or watching a morning TV show, and that doesn’t bring you the joy and fulfillment you want in your life, think about how you can spend that time better.
Maybe mediation would help you feel less stressed throughout your day. Maybe spending that time working out would give you more time with your loved ones in the early evenings. Or maybe this might be a good time to get around to reading those books on your bucket reading list.
Keep a journal for a few days or even weeks and review were you’re spending your time. The simple act of having to write it down makes you more aware of what you’re doing.
This alone will help you focus on each task. Next, make a list of things you want to change in your personal life, or even just a list of things you want to do more of.
Maybe you want to take an hour each evening to play with the kids. Maybe you want to spend more time each year traveling.
It doesn’t matter what your goals are. The important part is that you set them and then work on a plan to make sure you can reach them. After that it’s simply a matter of focusing on those tasks one at a time and managing your time wisely.
You’ll be surprised not only by how much more you can get done in a given day, but also how much time is left to just relax and enjoy life.
That’s a wrap! Now I’d like to turn it over to you. What helps you get more mental focus? Get my FREE planner click on the image below>>>
Leave a Reply