Stress less, focus more. Does that seem like an impossibility? If you put plans in place in your business and your life, you will be able to do just that — stress less, focus more and get more done. How do I know? Because I practice what I preach and when I work with my business coaching clients, we work on focus and priorities.
Stress Less, Focus More
Priortize. If you don’t know what you truly care about, you will fly from project to project and may not be focusing on those items about which you have a deep, meaningful connection. If you can’t focus, take a step back and write down what your priorities are? Then write down what you’re focusing on. Are there places in which those two intersect? If you’re focusing on non priority items, you need to determine why you’re letting yourself get distracted then work to get back on track.
What are you striving for? Are you ambitious? Are you seeking the correct items? Are you finding your efforts being scattered because you don’t know what you’re aiming for? In the book, “Essentialism,” author Greg McKeown writes that success is about “getting more focused and aligned.” He writes about the “disciplined pursuit of less.” This doesn’t necessarily mean you disregard tasks that need to be completed, but instead you focus more fully on priorities and work on non essential items after you’ve completed the essentials.
Where do you rank? When you look at your daily priorities, where do you and your business rank? If you are performing tasks for clients and disregarding your own tasks and priorities, why is that? You need to “put on your oxygen mask first” as they tell us on board airplanes. Take care of yourself and your business. If you and your business aren’t healthy, neither will thrive.
Delegation. If you’re still struggling to keep up with tasks in your business that aren’t generating revenue, why? You need to delegate those tasks for which you aren’t well-suited — even if they’re necessary to your business — and outsource. You need to focus on your core competencies. If bookkeeping isn’t your core competency, delegate it to someone who has that expertise and focus on your own expertise.
Look at your business, your priorities and where you rank on your daily to-do list and see if you need to shake things up in order to thrive.