Focus: How to Fight Distractions and Thrive Everyday
It’s that time of year again. The days are starting to get longer and sunnier. Your schedule is starting to fill up with events and activities. And your focus? Well, that’s starting to head out the window. It can become so difficult to focus on anything, especially your business, when other things are starting to demand your attention. However, in order to build a strong network marketing business, you have to avoid these distractions and feed your focus. Here’s how:
Distraction leads to inaction. Don’t let today’s pleasure destroy tomorrow’s treasure.
Fight distractions everyday
Did you know you might be setting yourself up to succumb to distractions every day? It’s true, sometimes we give in to distractions, even though we know we need to focus. To make it easier to fight distractions, it’s important to set yourself up for success.
What distracts you?
What are your biggest distractions? Everyone has a weak point, whether it’s checking social media constantly to see how many likes or comments you’ve received on a post or doing other smaller, less important tasks on your to-do list instead of the more important things. On warm, sunny days, the biggest distraction is the sun itself, especially after a cold or harsh winter.
Once you can pinpoint your distractions, you can better manage them when they come up. Often, it’s a trade-off – focus on x for a set amount of time and then you can give in to the distraction.
Schedule your day
It doesn’t sound exciting, but if you want to make it easier to fight distractions, you have to plan your day. Now, you don’t have to plan it down to the minute. Just schedule the most important activities you need to do to ensure you’ll get them done. This could be anything from your daily workout to your daily Power Hour.
We advise setting aside an hour each day to work on your business. This Power Hour doesn’t usually take a full hour unless you have a huge network. Most network marketers can connect with their networks in 30 minutes or less. That said, you can fill the rest of the hour with professional development activities, including watching videos or taking courses to help you sharpen your skills and serve your customers, prospects, and distributors even better.
You don’t have to spend a full hour at a time on your business. You can break it into smaller blocks that fit into your day. The key is to schedule it in to help you make sure to do it. If 15-minute blocks work best for you, then schedule several 15-minute blocks of time each day to work on your business.
Another part of this is to let people know when you’re going into a distraction-free mode to work on your business. If your family seems to be distracting you, letting them know that you’ll be unavailable for a specific time may help. It lets them know that during a set period of time, you’re busy so they shouldn’t bug you. These parameters let them know that you’re not busy forever, but during this set time, you need to work on your business.
Find a distraction-free (or distraction-light) setting
The good news is you can connect with your network from anywhere with Teamzy. If the kitchen is your big distraction zone, go to the bedroom, the laundry room or even a closet. Although some network marketers may have dedicated places to work in their homes, others work on their businesses wherever they can. The important part is to find a spot where it’s not as easy to give in to distractions. Ideally, it would have a door to prevent distractions from sabotaging your time. All you need is your smartphone, tablet, or laptop to get to work connecting with people in your network. The specific location isn’t important, as long as it allows you to focus on the task at hand – building your business.
Abide by a system
A system helps you ensure you’re spending your time wisely. Many network marketers who don’t have a system spend more time trying to figure out what to do to build their businesses than actually building them. This eats into their days and their most productive times. No wonder they give in to distractions!
A system removes all that wasted time and gives you the tasks you need to focus on each day in order to build a strong, successful business. Instead of spending time trying to organize index cards or sort through a spreadsheet, Teamzy gives you the list of people to contact each day based on your relationship with them and your last contact with them. You don’t have to worry that you’re contacting someone too soon or too often – Teamzy uses an algorithm to ensure you’re contacting people the right amount to be consistent and stay top of mind. Every day, you’ll see a list of customers, prospects, and distributors to contact and follow up with. Although you’ll connect with your biggest advocates more often, you can be sure you’ll contact everyone in your network in time.
Prioritize
Do you ever have one of those days where everything seems like a priority? We all have those at one time or another. The truth is, not everything is a true priority.
Take out your to-do list and look at it – really look at it. Then, pinpoint the one or two activities you HAVE TO get done no matter what that day. We’ll give you a hint – one thing you need to get done daily, or nearly everyday, is your Power Hour. Place a big star next to it, highlight it, and/or circle it to make sure you get it done. Then, pick out the next most important activity. Once you’ve completed those two things, go through the list and do the next most important activity. That’s how you’ll work through the list for the rest of the day.
Keep your eyes on the prize
Goals help you stay on track! If you want to feed your focus, reconnect with your goals.
By now, you should have set goals to achieve this year. If you haven’t, go set some now.
Once you have your goals in mind, review them often. That can mean reviewing them each month or several times a year. The key is to review them often enough that they remain top of mind. You can also keep them where you’ll see them daily. Reviewing your goals reminds you of why you’re working so hard and will help you fight distractions. When you find yourself giving into distractions, you can review them and stay focused.
Set aside time to give into distractions
Distractions happen and sometimes you just can’t avoid them. As they say, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Set aside time to entertain distractions, whether it’s 30 minutes of scrolling online, a walk outside to enjoy the sunshine, etc. If it helps, set aside time when you’re most likely to give into distractions the most. It could be in the morning or the afternoon, whenever you’re most likely to become distracted. Once it’s out of your system, you’ll be better equipped to focus when you need it.
Take breaks
No one expects you to work all the time. Breaks are just as important to productivity as your most productive activities. For many, it’s more natural to work in spurts. When you’re between tasks, take a break. Get some food, refill your coffee or tea, or get your blood pumping. This gives your brain a break and will help you feel refreshed before you tackle your next task.
Let Teamzy help you fight distractions
Teamzy gives you the tools to lead an organized network marketing business. From letting you know who to connect with each day to keeping all of your network’s contact information in one spot, Teamzy was designed to help you run an efficient network marketing business. If you’re not using Teamzy, what are you waiting for? Click here to start using Teamzy today.